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Hillsdale Police Officer Jeff Angermeyer was randomly checking license plates in the town’s commercial district when a violation popped up.
A blue van, which had a logo for a home entertainment installer, came back on Angermeyer’s laptop search as a white van registered to a tile company.
“Since there was an obvious discrepancy, the van was stopped to check for fictitious plates, [whether it was] stolen, various other scenarios,” the officer said.
After the driver gave him his license, Angermeyer got another computer hit: A Superior Court judge had issued a warrant for the guy’s arrest.
Edward Rivera, 38, formerly of New Jersey, now of Orlando, Fla., happened to be in town, and Angerrmeyer happened to be doing a job some may deem unimportant.
Unimportant, that is, unless you consider that federal authorities might have had a shot at preventing 9/11 if they knew what to do after a South Hackensack cop ran the license plate of a car parked in a Route 46 hotel just days earlier and it came back to one of the attack’s MAIN ORGANIZERS.
So this recent arrest in Hillsdale begs the question: Is this the kind of public service you consider a luxury?
Jerry DeMarco Publisher/Editor
What about the accused purse snatcher one of Angermeyer’s colleagues identified from a surveillance photo and arrested, just because the officer knew his town and he beat? I’ve either reported about or known dozens of purse snatchings that ended with the owner seriously hurt after trying to resist.
If this guy wasn’t caught by an officer using the sharpest of tools — his wits — how can any of us say what could have happened?
Yes, property taxes in New Jersey are obscene. But there are other ways of dealing with the problem. No one in Trenton has the good sense to go with a straight sales tax with no loopholes — which would rake in serious cash from boat buyers and those luxury market consumers who wouldn’t know a recession if it reduced the number of Brooks Brothers sales this spring.
Nor do they devise plans to consolidate services among towns in this state that are tinier than some private owners’ backyards.
Instead, we’re going after teachers — not administrators. Teachers: the people who shape the minds of children — yours, mine and ours.
And we’re going after cops.
It’s a harsh statement to be sure, but as one officer noted, there are those who “don’t see any problem with asking someone else to put their future and their family’s future on the line because they won’t lift a finger to protect themselves — only to criticize what we do.”
Imagine: Harrington Park is going from 11 officers to nine. Justify how that ISN’T going to make a difference.
In Rochelle Park, police have kept two brother officers from losing their jobs by agreeing to take a temporary pay cut and to cap overtime. They know what a bargaining position that puts them in, but today is what matters for their colleagues.
Norwood, Cedar Grove, Hawthorne — all towns where residents and business owners benefit from a safer lifestyle thanks to community-minded policing — are all cutting officers. In Garfield, the heads of seven guardians in blue are on the chopping block as of this writing.
And in Trenton — the CITY of Trenton — 120 cops are losing their jobs.
The list goes on, but you get the picture.
When the wacko commander in “A Few Good Men” tells the prosecutor that people don’t know what it’s like to “walk that wall” as you sleep, he’s right.
It’s not the slam-bam murder arrest, bomb seizure or outlaw chase that makes the most difference. It’s the day-to-day vigilance of a group of academically-trained professionals who take the trouble to get to know the area they cover.
This way, when a crime is committed in one town, an officer in another can connect the dots. Better yet: They can move BEFORE a crime is committed — before you or a loved one is hurt, or your property is damaged, destroyed or taken, before trouble strikes.
“Through routine traffic enforcement and other seemingly ordinary encounters, our police officers—regardless of the size of a town or the crime rate in a town—can capture fugitives who are just passing through,” said Hillsdale Police Chief Chip Stalter, praising young Angermeyer‘s work.
“A random car stop such as this one can suddenly transform into the measurable protection of our neighborhoods and the enforcing of our laws,” the chief said.
Think about that next time you think we have too many cops.
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