Spokeswoman for Dixon Rodriguez Family
*Photo by Paul W. Wang

Since the December 4th shooting of Dixon Rodriguez there have been peaceful marches asking that justice be served.

One march that took place shortly after Dixon died started from Hall Avenue and at one point the marches proceeded down Smith Street and stopped at City Hall.

At City Hall some of the marchers had signs that they carried demonstrating their discontent with the investigation.

At one of the City Council Meetings, a representative speaking for the Dixon Rodriguez family stated that they are not blaming the police. She said that she doesn’t even know if Dixon was to blame, but they just need their questions answered.

There have been speakers at the Council Meetings who were not related to the family who have shown their frustrations at the slow pace of the investigation.

The Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey (LLANJ) has filed an OPRA request asking for an investigation into the shooting.

The speakers have addressed the Council and Mayor asking them to push for a quicker resolution to the shooting, especially having the video surveillance tapes released.

One resident even brought it to the attention that the Prosecutor’s Office has stated that the officers acted accordingly. Some wanted to know why the Mayor and the Council couldn’t send a communication to the Prosecutor’s Office for an update of how the investigation was progressing. Police Chief Ruiz explained at the last Council Meeting on January 22 as he has done in previous meetings, that the case is out of the jurisdiction of the local Police.

Perhaps it’s time for all of those concerned to write a letter to the Prosecutor and Attorney General’s Office.If the letters have signatures attached, it will show how concerned the citizens are.

It’s a possibility both or either of those offices may respond and provide more answers to the family and community.

It’s up to the Council members if they choose to speak to the community about what happened.

The bottom line is no matter how many times people have come before the Council to speak about the shooting, the answers to their questions have remained the same: The investigation is out of the City’s hands. City Attorney Mark Blunda said he could draft a letter asking if an update could be provided.

If you do the same thing over and over again and getting the same results, maybe it’s time to take a different approach. C.M.