RED BANK: ‘PEDESTRIAN’ COPS NAB 30
Red Bank cops posing as pedestrians issued summonses to 30 motorists for safety violations earlier this week, Captain Mike Frazee announced Thursday.
RED BANK: SCENES FROM A NICE ‘NIGHT OUT’
Hundreds of Red Bank residents turned out for free food and games at the annual police-sponsored National Night Out Against Crime festival at Count Basie Park Tuesday night.
Check out the photos below to see who you know. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: MAN STABBED WITH BBQ FORK
A dispute over money ended with a Long Branch man stabbed in the chest with a barbecue fork in Red Bank Saturday, police said.
According to Captain Mike Frazee, police responded to Riverview Medical Center’s emergency room at 1:14 p.m. on a report of a patient who sought medical treatment for a stab wound.
RED BANK: POSSIBLE GRENADE FOUND IN SEWER
A member of the State Police bomb squad emerging from a Red Bank storm sewer with a possible hand grenade Tuesday afternoon.
RED BANK: EX-COP TO BECOME SCHOOL SRO
Joey Fields at a ceremony marking his promotion to police sergeant in 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A retired Red Bank police officer who’s a product of borough schools will be returning to work as a school resource officer, following action by the council last week.
In other RBPD news, the ranks of retired officers is slated to grow by two.
RED BANK: JEWELRY STORE BURGLAR SOUGHT
A photo from surveillance video showing the burglar. (Photo via Red Bank police. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank police are investigating an early-morning smash-and-grab burglary at a downtown jewelry store, Chief Darren McConnell told redbankgreen Wednesday.
RED BANK: ARREST MADE IN BURGLARY SPREE
A Newark man is in custody on charges arising from a burglary spree that impacted six downtown Red Bank stores and restaurants in one night last month, redbankgreen has learned.
RED BANK: BUSINESSES HIT IN BURGLARY SPREE
Six Red Bank stores and restaurants were burglarized in a break-in spree along Monmouth Street earlier this week, police Chief Darren McConnell said Saturday.
The lone burglar, who has not been arrested, also tried but failed to break into two other stores, he said.
RED BANK: RAIL BRIDGE EXERCISE PLANNED
New Jersey Transit police and other law enforcement agencies plan to conduct an emergency training exercise on North Jersey Coast Line bridge that crosses the Navesink River Saturday, the agency reported this week.
RED BANK: FOR 1,261, IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL
Teachers and staff welcomed students to the Red Bank Middle School with a clap-in on the first day of the 2022-2023 school year. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Superintendent Jared Rumage is not a fan of summer.
“I hate empty school buildings,” he said outside the middle school Tuesday, as the two-school district welcomed 1,261 students for a new academic year. “They should be like this, filled with kids.”
In an email exchange with redbankgreen last week, Rumage, now in his 10th year at the district’s helm, provided an overview of some key issues.
RED BANK: SEARCH LEADS TO DRUG BUST
Red Bank police arrested a borough man on drug and weapons charges, Chief Darren McConnell said in a prepared statement issued Friday afternoon.
RED BANK: COPS + KIDS + COPTER = FUN
Always fun and mind-blowing for kids, Red Bank’s annual National Night Out Against Crime once again featured a visit by a military helicopter to Count Basie Park Tuesday night.
The police-sponsored festival featured free food, games, music and community information, organized this year by Patrolman Milton Gray IV. But once again, the New Jersey National Guard Black Hawk copter stole the show, giving kids an opportunity to explore the aircraft inside and out.
Check out redbankgreen‘s photos, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: SCHOOL COPS ON HOLD
Councilman Michael Ballard, seen here at a June 29 forum, cited . (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council tabled a plan to put armed police in the borough’s primary and middle schools Wednesday night.
The council’s second session of the month ended with quarreling among members over a requested change to the meeting schedule.
RED BANK: SCHOOL COPS ON AGENDA
The middle school, above, and primary school would each have a school resource officer onsite when in session, said Chief Darren McConnell. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Action that would put a police officer in Red Bank’s primary and middle schools is up for approval by the borough council Wednesday night.
Here ‘s the agenda at a glance:
FAIR HAVEN: COUNCIL OKS GUN RESOLUTION
Mayor Josh Halpern speaking during Monday’s council session. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Overriding objections by Mayor Josh Halpern, Fair Haven’s borough council endorsed a resolution calling for common-sense federal gun laws Monday night.
The 6-0 vote followed a showdown between Halpern and several council members over his blockage of resolutions he said are not local issues.
RED BANK: FUNDRAISER FLOATS RESCUE BOAT
Red Bank Marine 1 in transit recently for installation of a new motor. (RBFD photo. Click to enlarge.)
Press release from the Red Bank Volunteer Fire Department
Thanks to the generous support of over 20 local businesses and nearly 80 individual contributors, the Red Bank Fire Department Marine 1 Fundraiser is a success. While contributions are still needed for the installation of the new fire pump, a new motor has already been installed, the GPS unit is ordered, and wiring is underway. The membership of the department continue to go above the call of duty in terms of contributing their time and are grateful for the public support – every contribution was noticed and appreciated.
RED BANK: COP LEADS FAMILIES TO SAFETY
A Red Bank police officer helped two families escape from a fire in their attached homes in Middletown last week.
Sergeant Heather Kovar (right) was driving in the township on police business shortly after noon Friday when she noticed gray smoke rising behind a fence alongside what appeared to be a single-family house at 81 Twin Brooks Avenue.
RED BANK: SIMS CONVICTION UPHELD
By JOHN T. WARD
The New Jersey Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of Anthony Sims, who was found guilty in the 2014 shooting of a man seated in a car parked in Red Bank.
RED BANK: FIRE RESCUE VESSEL NEARLY READY
Red Bank’s volunteer fire department is nearing completion on an overhaul of a multi-use boat it recently obtained for free. But it needs a hand from the public.
RED BANK: RESCUE TRUCK ADDED TO FLEET
Red Bank Fire Chief Bobby Holiday, right, and First Deputy Nick Ferraro with the new rescue truck at Union Hose Company last week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s volunteer firefighters have a new truck to help them rescue individuals trapped in cars or on the Navesink River.
And though it’s a used, 28-year-old vehicle, its $35,000 acquisition last month is being praised by officials as “huge” bargain.
RED BANK: MAN FACING WEAPONS CHARGES
A Tinton Falls man is facing weapons charges after he brought a handgun loaded with armor-piercing bullets into Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank last month, police Chief Darren McConnell told redbankgreen Wednesday.
The suspect, Wesley Rucker, age 34, was also charged with impersonating a federal law enforcement official.
FAIR HAVEN: TWOFER KISS FOR NEW CAPTAIN
With his daughters and Fair Haven police Chief Joe McGovern looking on, newly-promoted Captain Robert Townshend got a congratulatory kiss from his wife, Jackie, at Tuesday night’s council meeting.
The kiss had a dual significance.
RED BANK: COPTER STARS AT NIGHT OUT
Hundreds of Red Bank residents turned out for the annual police-sponsored National Night Out Against Crime festival at Count Basie Park Tuesday night.
In addition to free food and games, this years’s edition featured the dramatic arrival of a New Jersey National Guard Black Hawk helicopter, which kids of all ages swarmed over.
The stop was the second of the night on the Greater Red Bank Green for the Lakehurst-based chopper, following an appearance at Little Silver’s National Night Out at Markham Fields.
Check out the photos below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: TWIN PUMPERS DELIVERED
Red Bank’s volunteer fire department took delivery of a new firetruck Tuesday morning, the second in four days.
RED BANK: POLICE CAMERAS COMING SOON
Body cameras could be fully deployed by September, says Chief Darren McConnell. (2016 photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
As they will across New Jersey, police-worn body cams will soon be the norm in Red Bank, officials said.
But state funding for the devices and related data storage will only cover about a third of the cost, said police chief and acting borough administrator Darren McConnell.