A report released yesterday by the State Police shows Monmouth County has 125 gangs with about 720 members, and Ocean County has 114 gangs, with an estimated 690 members. Among those gangs are the Bloods, the Crips and MS13. Other gangs present in Lakewood are 18th Street and VL (Vatos Locos). Lakewood, showed the highest number of gangs in Ocean County with 289 members.
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And lkwd almost told 5 to go on “vacation” ?!???? Wil we ever be safe
Township Committee what do you have to say now?
So out of the total gang members in Ocean County,Lakewood has 42% of them!!!
TLS,
Can you get the numbers of what it was lets say five years ago? How fast is it rising?
Who are the leaders of the gangs?
Lakewood leaders show us your plan of action?
Dont wait till we burry more of our children!!
Never has there been a better saying then. THE WRITTING IS ON THE WALL
Maybe its time that politicians make fighting crime a priority. Lets have that in mind at the polls.
so when do you think this problem, will be looked into…!
I f you bring them, they will cause crimes. It is time to get a handle on this situation, it is way out of control.
problem is that the police might know who the gang members are but they can’t do anything to them until they have evidence that the individual broke the law – not just a suspicion.
if the cops know who the gang members are then i hope they’re constantly watching over them wherever they may be. that’s the only i’d figure they can be arrested if they catch any evidence. i can understand there’s a lot of members but something more has to be done. lakewood is one of the scariest towns to live in with the fact that these people are living among us
So why are we paying so much more for homes than surrounding towns w/ less crime?
In the past lpd officers may not have taken us serious when we called regarding gang activity or teens wrecking havoc.
Lpd can no more sweep it under the carpet. If we need outside help let’s get it. We need it for everyones safety
Up until recently, I felt safe living in Lakewood. Could this problem have anything to do with the increase in the number of illegal immigrants living in Lakewood. Perhaps government officials should look into this problem and then perhaps our streets might become safe again!
Two hundred and eighty nine gang members in this small city!
Hashem yiracheim.
If one reads the articles on APP you will see that Asbury Park has a total estimated gang membership of 219 while Lakewood has 289. That means we have 25% more gang members than Asbury Park!! Now I don’t know what anyone else on this site thinks but that is REALLY scary! I used to work in Asbury Park and was walking down the street when a few guys pulled semi’s just up Main Street and had a shootout in broad daylight. I witnessed what went on in that town and it was bad. That place was dead scary. Now it seems Lakewood is WORSE!! This is bad, really bad.
Lakewoods allways had gangsters. IT’S ONLY BECAUSE WE ARE PROTECTED BY SUCH A GREAT POLICE FORCE THAT KEEP IT FROM GETTING LIKE ASBURY PARK. THANKS LPD
Great – we were able to identify the number of gang members, now let’s let law enforcement clear them out!
Maybe we need to have more State Police in Lakewood patrolling… Since the LPD can’t control the situation. I work in Lakewood and see such behavior from the motorists that is totally overlooked, so what makes you think they are going to confront the gang population. It almost seems like they are slacking off on the job…. Maybe now that such a HORRIFIC TRAGEDY just happened, that they might wake up and take a stand……
Does this really surprise anyone? Like the saying goes ~ Build it and they will come ~ well lakewood did just that
What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.
Some men you just can’t reach…
So, you get what we had here last week
Which is the way he wants it!
Well, he gets it!
N’ I don’t like it any more than you may
those who rent out most of the stores to you know whom,are to blame,take a walk tru downtown Lakewood its looks like a ghetto
We don’t need state police or any other agency in this town. The PD can’t handle it because there are not enough men and women on the force to proactively take a stance against it. The township wants to lay people off and not hire, well this is what they get. About 8 years ago, the PD had a force of approximately 140 sworn officer. I think it’s down to maybe 105. As a resident, to me, that is absolutely frightening! The PD has lost one officer to a fatal car accident, 2 officers from shootings, another from a heinous execution style killing and numerous retirements. Unless they hire, things won’t get better. And to the people who complain more cops mean more tickets, GROW UP! Don’t drive like a fool and break the law, you won’t get ticketed
Get over yourself, Lakewood needs the State Police, If the Police Dap’t. has lost these many officers then you need additional help, so think about what you just said…. Apparentlty you did not proof read what you sent, how sad is that! And there has only been one police officer shot in the line of duty, don’t know where you are getting your facts, but they are wrong. Welcome additional help, they can only save your lives! Why are you so against outside help, are you one of the drivers that do not abide by the laws on the streets….
Well in my opinion nothing can be done because look what happened to officer matlosz he was a officer and this cold blooded killer had complete control and who is to say it cant happen again to another officer or state trooper. it is so sad that we have to live like this and that lakewood used to be a nice town to live in and now it’s like we are in harlem. here are some ideas..
1. Lakewood hire more detectives to find these gang members and arrest them all.
2. Have more patrol cars on the streets there isn’t enough out there in this town.
3.Lscw hire more volunteers to patrol and watch all neighborhoods not just for the frum yid communities.
4. and if you can afford an alarm system on your place please use it!
The LPD from the Chief on down know they cant handle this problem. thats why they dont- arrest all the gang leaders, bust up the drug houses, close the fake stores on clifton…. the problem is beyond their control. We need (Hashem of course) the FBI, the state police to to the job right.
lakewood is a small town with a big problem. it is infested. the chief knows that if he clamps down on his own, the next contract will be on his mug.
lets hope the powers that claim to be powers in this town will make enough noise and effort to get the FBI involved and root it out the rights way
the easiest way to get rid of some of the gangs is to eliminate the day laborers. This won’t happen because they are cheap labor and are used by the community to clean their homes and build their development at the cheapest rate possible.The other remaining gang members are involved in drug traffic. They rent space in the houses that are brought out and put as rental. eliminate the rentals of homes ,you eliminate the gang members and force them to go elsewhrere. Why is this so hard to do?
Lakewood suffers from the same conditions that exist in our economy but at a lower scale. cheap labor is destroying lakewood.
Hey Concerned- get YOUR facts straight. Since Sept 2009 a total of 4 officers have been shot in the line of duty, one being Officer Matlosz who was killed in the line of duty.
No one would turn away help I’m sure. But the town needs to take crime seriously and not just take help from the state, but actually fight for themselves. The state police are frequently in Lakewood and surrounding towns, they always have been. What is being done currently is not enough. Give the LPD the manpower and training they need to police this town effectively. They cannot be effective in protecting this town if they are stretched so thin that they run from call to call and can only do reactive policework.
Lakewood has always had gangs. It has escalated in more recent years because it has been ignored way too long. Now that it has become an epidemic, it is too late to stop. The best any PD can do is try to keep it under control by learning who is involved and listening to those concerned citizens on where activity may take place. It is also important for them to be more cautious when approaching a known gang member.
i think these numbers are fabricated. please everyone don’t believe everything that you read. there are more hassidics living in lakewood then five years ago and i don’t need numbers to show me that ,just my eyes.
if there were that many gang members in lakewood we would see them daily and have incidents everyday.
anytime something happens in lakewood it gets national attention. give me a break!!!!!
lakewood is not that bad a town compare to the surrounding towns.
To #27 I meant in Lakewood regarding police officers being killed in the line of duty, not nationwide.
We need to get rid of the rentals, my street has about 30 homes, 10 of the homes have been purchased by a company who then rents to mexicans, 10 cars on the lawns, in the driveway and back yards, if I see it why doesn’t code enforcemenþ see it. Go after the slum loards who only want to devalue the neighbor hood so they can force the good home owners to sell to them and move. Code enforcement bothers me for my garbage cans but can’t 10 cars on the front lawn of my neighbors house.Enforce how many people live in one house and how many are legal, and how many sleeps in shifts.
your wrong 4 were shot durning a raid and one was shot in the head totaling 5 officers shot since 2009! That is huge! Who left my back door open is so right, it is crazy people can’t see it! How can the cops handle the gangs when they are just going from call to call LAKEWOOD HIRE!!!!
The simple rule has been ignored here. “Without order, there is chaos”. Unfortunately this happens to be a direct result of laws not being enforced here. And now we all are paying the price. Thank you!