Crime & Safety
Mahwah Drug Charges Double in 5 Years
While a steady increase in drug usage in the township has led to a more than 120 percent increase in total drug-related charges since 2008, a combination of officer awareness, training and increased enforcement has carried those numbers higher, police s
Between 2008 and 2012, the number of adults charged with drug related offenses in Mahwah has more than doubled and, while the overall increase is troubling, police say the biggest concern is the more than 175 percent increase in charges related to the most dangerous and addictive class of narcotics.
Looking Beyond the Ticket
Police officers and detectives responding to a Patch analysis of police records said that increase in narcotics usage combined with an expanded training program for law enforcement has led to a cumulative upward trend.
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According to Mahwah Police Chief Jim Batelli, his agency has tracked the steady increase of drug charges over several years and bolstered training and enforcement.
While his officers are trained to "look beyond the traffic ticket," Batelli said, "every category we measure is showing an overall increase."
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"Of course, as with any issue, once we see a problem, we increase training of our patrol officers, and our detectives. But, if the problem wasn’t there, they wouldn’t be finding anything.”
The Numbers
According to police, the most concerning charges are those involving controlled dangerous substances such as heroin, cocaine and prescription drugs. Though the numbers of those charges filed in Mahwah over the past five years are not as high as some of the minor charges like marijuana or drug paraphernalia possession, cops said the trends they’ve been seeing on the streets are concerning.
Number of Drug-Related Charges Filed in Mahwah, 2008-2012*
Charges
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Percent change, 2008-2012
Distribution Heroin/Cocaine
5
3
11
14
9
80%
Possession Controlled Dangerous Substance (Prescription Drugs, Heroin, Cocaine, etc.)
65
58
56
79
179
175.4%
Possession Marijuana Under 50 Grams
114
88
146
164
222
94.7%
Under the Influence of a Narcotic
5
0
10
17
24
380%
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
128
69
140
164
250
95.3%
Possession of Hypodermic Needles
8
5
7
11
30
275%
Manufacture or Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance
6
7
19
10
24
300%
Possession of Marijuana Over 50 Grams
2
0
6
7
3
50%
Total Drug-Related Charges Filed
333
230
395
466
741
122.5%
* Statistics show the number of charges filed during the indicated time periods, not the number of arrests. Statistics provided by the Mahwah Police Department reflect only the number of adult charges. Juvenile charges are not reflected in the statistics.
“In the past two years, I’ve conducted more heroin arrests during motor vehicle stops than during the 12 or 13 years prior to them that I’ve been working in Mahwah,” Officer Michael Blondin told Patch.
“Awareness is key. The more experienced we are, the more tuned-in we are to subtle clues. We train ourselves with each arrest.”
Blondin said that in addition to taking training courses, the police force is also equipped with more tools on the road to assist in the detection of drug usage, like booklets on drug trends and information, and Internet access in patrol vehicles.
“Now, if we don’t know what something is, we can immediately look it up, see photos, and know what we are dealing with.”
According to Detective Mike Grassi, drug-related charges are not only filed as a result of motor vehicle stops — house parties, various calls to hotels, domestic abuse, theft complaints, and other types of calls have all resulted in drug-related arrests.
“We are getting a lot of prescription fraud complaints from pharmacies, and a lot of missing person complaints that end up being drug-related,” Grassi said.
According to the statistics, the more minor charges, like possession of marijuana under 50 grams, are seeing higher numbers. But, the jumps in numbers are more severe for some of the more serious charges, like possession of CDS.
From 2008 to 2012, marijuana possession charges have gone up by 94.7 percent, and possession of drug paraphernalia charges have gone up 95.3 percent. During the same time period, possession of a CDS charges have gone up by 175 percent, and manufacture or distribution of a CDS charges quadrupled, from six in 2008 to 24 in 2012.
Though the actual numbers of the more serious crimes are lower, Batelli said they are still concerning. “Look at distribution charges, 24 a year is two getting arrested each month. That’s not insignificant.”
And, preliminary statistics from the first few months of 2013 indicate trends are continuing this year.
“If the numbers we’ve seen so far continue, we’ll be on track to have higher totals this year than we had last year,” Batelli said.
Number of Drug-Related Charges Filed in Mahwah, Jan. - March 2013*
Charges
Number Filed from Jan. 1 through March 31, 2013
Distribution Heroin/Cocaine
9
Possession Controlled Dangerous Substance (Prescription Drugs, Heroin, Cocaine, etc.)
45
Possession Marijuana Under 50 Grams
90
Under the Influence of a Narcotic
12
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
79
Possession of Hypodermic Needles
6
Manufacture or Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance
2
Possession of Marijuana Over 50 Grams
2
Total Number of Charges Filed
245
* Statistics show the number of charges filed during the indicated time periods, not the number of arrests. Statistics provided by the Mahwah Police Department reflect only the number of adult charges. Juvenile charges are not reflected in the statistics.
Moving Forward
Police said it is difficult to compare Mahwah’s drug statistics to those from other municipalities.
“Mahwah is a big town with a lot of highways running through it,” Batelli said. “I don’t know that you can really compare the different towns [in Bergen County] to one another.”
Still, officers said the trends they are seeing in Mahwah are not isolated to the township.
“Look at the [heroin arrest sweep] the prosecutor did [last month],” Grassi said. “I don’t think there was a town that wasn’t on that list.”
During a sweep last month, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli announced the arrests of more than 100 buyers throughout suburbs in Northern NJ. At the time, Molinelli called the increase in heroin use amongst suburban residents an "epidemic."
"I am trying to raise awareness of just how bad this is," Molinelli said at the time, adding local crimes including burglary and robbery were often linked to drug users.
Mahwah officers said they are instituting programs to promote community awareness of the issue, and maintaining increased enforcement levels in an attempt to reverse the trend.
The community, Grassi said, has already been helpful in assisting police in drug-related arrests.
“Drug use like this doesn’t discriminate in terms of ages,” Grassi said. “What we are also seeing is an increase in family members reporting drug use of their family members. So, we’ll have parents coming to us asking us to arrest their children, and adult children coming to us asking us to arrest their parents. Now, that’s something that years ago, we never saw. But, people are obviously coming here as a last resort. They feel being arrested will be a wake up call.”
Officers also said collecting statistics, evidence, and experience is becoming a key component to addressing drug use in Mahwah in the future.
“The intelligence that is being gathered from our patrol units and from informants is just unbelievable,” Grassi said. “It’s a full-time job just going through all of that information.”
“It’s a problem, definitely,” Batelli said looking at the statistics. “We are really focusing on prescription drugs, because they really are a gateway to heroin and some of these other drugs. We feel effective training and enforcement are important to addressing this.”
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