Dear Council President Petrick:

More than a month has elapsed since you penned a letter which appeared in the Amboy Guardian chronicling the surge of violent crime in Perth Amboy. Gunfire, attempted rapes, assaults, robbery and break-ins among the infractions you mentioned.

Over this past weekend there was a report of more than 30 bullet casings discovered by the police at the corner of Madison A venue and Jefferson Street, with additional casing found on New Street and New Brunswick Avenue. Yesterday, yet again, calls were recorded at the police department of reported gunfire. When police responded a report of an assault and robbery to a known local drug dealer was documented.

Perth Amboy has not seen this type of daily violent crimes since the middle and late eighties when 14 years of steady crime increases were recorded on the State’s UCR.

Many residents and I fear that unless immediate action is undertaken violence will spiral further out of control with the continued likelihood of loss of life, as the recent murder on High Street and Hall A venue illustrates.

The Faulkner Act empowers the City Council to provide a check and balance to the Mayor and Department Directors that are charged with the day to day operation of City government.

Accordingly, I am requesting that the City Council avail itself of this authority and schedule an emergency meeting with the attendance of the Mayor/Police Director and Police Chief and demand an explanation and a plan of action to address this very serious problem.

I hope you agree that this surge of violence requires the Council’s intervention and schedule an Emergency Meeting subject to the guidelines and appropriate laws established.

Very truly yours,

Joseph B. Vas, Esq., MBA
Attorney at Law
Vas Law, LLC