Police Director Tawana Moody, a civilian, takes over atop the Jersey City Police Department
Updated Feb 02, 2021;
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Jersey City Police Director Tawana Moody is taking over all police department operations in the wake of Chief Michael Kelly’s recent retirement, bringing the city’s police force under the leadership and oversight of a civilian, Mayor Steve Fulop said Tuesday.
Fulop said appointing a civilian to oversee the department will improve police accountability, transparency, and community relations. The move also expands civilian access to Internal Affairs investigations, including resident complains of potential police wrongdoing, he said.
“Public perspective is just as valuable as police perspective, and I believe this latest step we’re taking will strengthen police/community relations,” Fulop said.
Beacon Hill Roll Call: Jan. 18 to Jan. 22, 2021
Published: 1/29/2021 3:10:27 PM
There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. Instead, Beacon Hill Roll Call reports on the percentage of times local representatives voted with their party’s leadership in the 2020 legislative session.
Beacon Hill Roll Call uses 259 votes from the 2020 House session as the basis for this report. This includes all roll calls that were not on local issues. The votes of the 125 Democrats were compared to former House Speaker Bob DeLeo until he resigned in December. After that, they were compared to current Speaker Ron Mariano. The votes of the 30 Republicans were compared with House Minority Leader Rep. Brad Jones, R-North Reading.
Hudson County View
Outgoing Police Chief Michael Kelly. Photo courtesy of the City of Jersey City.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Chief Kelly has had a decorated career, and as I have said before, I credit his leadership for getting us through the December 10th mass shooting last year that had the potential to cause much greater devastation within our community,” Mayor Steven Fulop said in a statement.
“It’s his effective leadership that has led to historic downward trends in crime in recent years and kept us from seeing the spikes in violence that most other cities have experienced throughout the pandemic. I’m grateful for Chief Kelly’s leadership and his 34 years serving our community. I wish him the best of luck in his retirement.”
There were 18 homicides in Hudson County in 2020. Why one Jersey City official thinks there should be fewer
Updated Dec 30, 2020;
Posted Dec 30, 2020
Hudson County Prosecutor s Office members and Jersey City police are seen on July 10, 2020, investigating the death of Yusef Mathis, who was found shot dead inside a car on Clerk Street. (Joe Shine | For The Jersey Journal)Joe Shine | For The Jersey Journ
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Jersey City is fighting violent crime with a multi-pronged strategy, but the state’s second largest city could use some help from judges and the criminal court system, Public Safety Director James Shea says.
“One homicide victim had 4 previous gun arrests, another one had two previous gun arrests,” Shea said during an interview about the city’s homicide rate in 2020. “The next one had three robbery arrests; the next one had three gun arrests and a murder arrest.”