NEST Lays Egg in Trenton

The NEST (Neighborhood Enforcement Stabilization Task-force) program is the newest debacle to be suffered upon the residents of Trenton. NEST is the lackluster brainchild of embattled Trenton Police Director Joe Santiago. On the surface the plan seems simple enough identify high crime areas and saturate those areas with police officers but when examined closely the elements of NEST (long and short term) are revealed to be a detriment to the city.

For a small percentage of the citys population (less than 5%), NEST is a godsend, an answer to their prayers for relief from crime. To Santiago's credit, crime has almost zeroed-out in the NEST areas. Now all that needs to be done is for this standard of living to be maintained. Unfortunately, this is the most obvious flaw in Santiagos crime fighting sleight of hand. Currently, NEST is in the Now you see it phase. In October, the Now you dont portion starts.

According to department insiders, the "now you see it" portion of NEST has stretched the departments resources to their limit. Some department bosses have been more candid in their assessment of NEST and believe that officers and resources have been stretched seriously beyond being effective.
Since the end of May a program of forced mandatory overtime has existed in the department. During the month of August alone the department spent more than $600,000 in overtime. June and July saw similar amounts in overtime expenditures. The majority of this overtime money is being spent to staff NEST with officers. The mandatory overtime has also seriously reduced an already dysfunctional morale in the department and fatigue, both psychological and physical, is becoming a concern.
So far this summer, about $2 million has been spent on 3% of the population, said one high-ranking officer. But the money shouldnt be the big concern. The focus should be on whats happening in the rest of the city during the NEST program, the officer continued.

While the NEST areas have witnessed significant reductions in crime, other areas of the city have seen tremendous increases. The South Broad St. corridor (area between Grand St. and S. Clinton Ave, from Dye St. to the city line) is one area that is witnessing high crime growth. The frequencies of assaults, burglaries, thefts, weapons offenses and quality of life issues have all spiked during NEST.
Displacement is the term used by Director Santiago to explain the rise in crime for neighborhoods outside of NEST areas. At Comstat meetings Santiago has reportedly viewed displacement as an inevitable and acceptable side effect of NEST.
In common terms, displacement means the criminals leave a place of high police pressure and begin committing crimes in areas of lesser police pressure. The residents and business owners of the South Broad St. corridor have the misfortune of not being part of the lucky 5% of the population. The same can be said for the Calhoun/Passaic St. area, Sanhican Drive area and many others. NEST has done nothing to stop crime. NEST simply moves the criminals to fresh areas.

The question that needs to be addressed now is what happens when NEST is over? Even the most optimistic officers in the department see NEST as nothing more than a summer respite for the residents of NEST areas. But to think NEST will have no lasting effect would be a mistake. Through Director Santiagos accepted plan of displacement a wide-range of criminals have been introduced into new territory and it is not likely that they will all want to give up their newfound locations. Unfortunately, the legacy of Santiagos NEST program is liable to last much longer than anybody anticipated.
» See South Trenton's Crime Map

Santiago Handcuffs Trenton's  Vice   Unit

TRENTON — On June 1st Police Director Joe Santiago allegedly issued an order forbidding the Vice Enforcement Unit from conducting investigations and search warrants outside of the designated NEST (Neighborhood Enforcement Stabilization Task force) areas.
In a June 3rd letter to Vice Unit commander, Lieutenant James Nemeth, Captain Thomas Morgan confirmed Santiagos order by stating: On June 1, 2004, Police Director Santiago said that he doesnt want to see any ******* search warrants for any area but the NEST areas.
At the time, Captain Morgan was the Special Assistant for Crime Control and Operations and answered directly to Director Santiago.
According to two officers, who requested to remain anonymous, Morgan replaced the word fucking with the seven asterisks.
Morgans letter also indicated that Santiagos order would be in effect until the scheduled completion of the NEST program in October. Santiago allegedly made allowances for the Vice Unit to continue working an investigation with the Division of Criminal Justice. The Vice Unit was also ordered to turn over their current investigation to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) of the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office.
The K9News has learned that since Santiago's order, SIU has conducted four search warrants in the city. In contrast, the Trenton Homicide unit has conducted eight search warrants since June 1st.
A high ranking officer in the police department told the K9News that the Vice Unit has not conducted any search warrants anywhere in the city (NEST areas included) since May of this year. Nobodys selling drugs in the NEST; so I dont know why Vice has to ignore the rest of the city, said the officer. [Santiago] is taking a zero tolerance stance in a place with zero activity.
         » Click to read Morgan's Letter

The first K9News editorial cartoon takes a satirical look at the crime fighting style of Public Enema #1 and his NEST program.
» Trenton Takes