Rahway’s ‘Ring of Steel’?

London has its “Ring of Steel,” New York City is looking into getting its own version, and now a pilot program will bring surveillance cameras to downtown Rahway, starting with the Rahway Center Partnership offices.

The city’s crime rate has dropped considerably in the last decade, according to data from the Uniform Crime Report (UCR), taking a similar pattern to countywide numbers. Compared to 10 years ago (39.1 incidents reported per 1,000 residents), the crime rate in 2006 was down by a third, and has dropped each year since 2001. To put it in perspective, Rahway’s 25.8 rate in 2006 was similar to Union County’s overall figure (25.3), slightly higher than Roselle (23.6), but lower than Union (28.7). It varied compared to its immediate neighbors: Clark (14.7), Linden (32.9), Edison (26.1) and Woodbridge (31.0).

Given all those data, there are still more than a few people I know who aren’t comfortable walking downtown at night. Will cameras help? If something were to occur, you’d think there would be a better chance of getting it on video, but the NFL’s instant replay hasn’t exactly solved every problem. Cameras won’t be much help in the dark, and they didn’t stop the Hat Bandit. At least taxpayers aren’t picking up the tab on this one. It’ll be interesting to see the results of the pilot effort.

With cameras also popping up at intersections to catch motorists running red lights, it seems as if life is getting a little more Orwellian every day. A step closer to life imitating art? And how about the acting police chief’s sounding like a character right out of 1984: “It’s only scary if you have something to hide.”

What do you think? Will cameras help?

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0 thoughts on “Rahway’s ‘Ring of Steel’?”

  1. I’d like to think that potential criminals will see the cameras and think twice about doing something wrong, but realistically, that probably won’t happen. If someone, for example, really wants to steal my wallet, they’ll wear a mask or some other disguise, threaten and maybe even injure me and steal it anyway. A camera won’t prevent the crime, it’ll only record it, but a video isn’t gonna get my stuff back or keep me from getting hurt. Honestly, I don’t know how much safer I’d feel walking downtown at night with cameras. Now, get some grant money to pay for officers to spend time “walking the beat” near the train station, parking deck, etc., and I might feel more at ease. Or not…

  2. Putting aside the appearance of danger, how many people ARE actually mugged downtown? Sure, it’s a little too quiet, and dark, along Main or Irving streets, but so what? I’d wager that most of those “incidents reported” are property crimes and domestic disputes, rather than outright robberies. Is there a breakdown?And of course, putting in cameras is no panacea, as you point out.

  3. “Doofus,” Thanks for joining the discussion. Good idea for a future post. The UCR has a breakdown by violent offenses (murder, assault) and nonviolent offenses (theft). Give me some time to sort my spreadsheets some and I’ll have something up on the blog; maybe during the slow time around the holidays.

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