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Police & Fire
JERSEY FRESH: Majority Of 109 New Port Authority Police Officers Hail From NJ JERSEY FRESH: Majority Of 109 New Port Authority Police Officers Hail From NJ
Jersey Fresh: Majority Of 109 New Port Authority Police Officers Hail From NJ More than 100 cadets officially became Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officers with a joyous graduation ceremony in Middlesex County that followed a somber remembrance in lower Manhattan. The 109 graduates of the 122nd Port Authority Police Academy class push the total workforce of the bi-state agency past 2,000 in all. And a majority of those boots come from New Jersey. The Garden State produced 59 of the new officers and New York 50, officials said following the class' graduation at St. Joseph's High School in Metuchen on Thursday, Jan. 4. It's a slim margin but a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Driver Who Mowed Down Police, Bystanders On New Year's In NYC Has Drug History, Records Show NJ Driver Who Mowed Down Police, Bystanders On New Year's In NYC Has Drug History, Records Show
NJ Driver Who Mowed Down Police, Bystanders On New Year's In NYC Has Drug History, Records Show UPDATE: A wrong-way driver from Fort Lee who hit a half-dozen people in midtown Manhattan as he tried to flee police on New Year’s Day has a history of drug arrests and convictions, records show. Mohamed Alaouie, 44, was driving a Mercedes sedan that twice mounted the sidewalk on West 34th Street going the wrong way, hitting people, vehicles and a food cart overnight Monday before finally coming to rest, city police said. Alaouie was fleeing uniformed officers 90 minutes or so after the New Year’s ball drop in nearby Times Square when the chain-reaction crashes occurred near Madison Square …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Images Of 26 More Heroes Added To Port Authority PD Line-Of-Duty Death Memorial Images Of 26 More Heroes Added To Port Authority PD Line-Of-Duty Death Memorial
Images Of 26 More Heroes Added To Port Authority PD Line-Of-Duty Death Memorial The images of 26 Port Authority police officers who died in the line of duty before and after 9/11 were added to a striking memorial on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge. The memorial at Port Authority Police Benevolent Association headquarters off East Palisade Avenue in Englewood Cliffs originally was created to honor the 37 PAPD officers killed in the 9/11 terror attacks on America. They included K9 Sirius, whose handler put him into what was believed to be a safe place at the World Trade Center before the buildings fell. "At that time, we had what we believed to be ei…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen Hebrew School, Mercer House Of Worship Among 200 Targets Of Swatting, Bomb Threats In US Bergen Hebrew School, Mercer House Of Worship Among 200 Targets Of Swatting, Bomb Threats In US
Bergen Hebrew School, Mercer House Of Worship Among 200 Targets Of Swatting, Bomb Threats In US UPDATE: A Hebrew school in Bergen County and a house of worship in Mercer were among nearly 200 Jewish targets of bogus bomb threats and swatting incidents across the country, law enforcement officials reported. In just 24 hours over this past weekend, 199 bogus bomb and swatting threats were delivered from one coast to the other, according to the Secure Community Network, a nonprofit that monitors antisemitic threats and coordinates security for Jewish institutions nationwide. It was shortly before 10 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 17, when Barnert Temple on southbound Route 208 in Franklin Lakes rece…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Disguise Got Stones: Accused Member Of $10,000 Shoplifting Crew Fails To Fool Paramus PD Disguise Got Stones: Accused Member Of $10,000 Shoplifting Crew Fails To Fool Paramus PD
Disguise Got Stones: Accused Member Of $10,000 Shoplifting Crew Fails To Fool Paramus PD A member of an organized shoplifting crew that snatched more than $10,000 worth of merchandise from a Nordstrom in Paramus thought he could fool police by changing his clothes, authorities said. He ended up making it easy for police to bag him and his pals after they’d eluded a police dragnet more than three hours earlier, Paramus Chief Robert Guidetti said. Officers Matt Mulick and Joe Mastrofilipo had been flagged down by Nordstrom security after five people stole nearly 100 items from the Garden State Plaza store around 7:45 p.m. last Friday, Dec. 1, the chief said. Officers immediately…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
ON VIDEO: Bergen Footballer, 17, Stabbed In Heart By Long Island Killer, DA Says ON VIDEO: Bergen Footballer, 17, Stabbed In Heart By Long Island Killer, DA Says
ON Video: Bergen Footballer, 17, Stabbed In Heart By Long Island Killer, DA Says A surveillance camera recorded a Long Island man stabbing a 17-year-old New Jersey high school football player dead and slashing his older brother during a fight in downtown Manhattan on Thanksgiving, city authorities revealed. An autopsy revealed that a 6-inch stab wound pierced the heart of Rocco Rodden in front of an ax-throwing bar on Lafayette Street around 1:50 a.m., Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eun Bi Kim said on Saturday, Nov. 25. The accused killer, Gianluca Bordone, 19, of Oyster Bay, was wearing a black sweatshirt with the word "courage" on the back when he was brought …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen County High School Footballer Stabbed Dead, Brother Wounded In NYC Bergen County High School Footballer Stabbed Dead, Brother Wounded In NYC
Bergen County High School Footballer Stabbed Dead, Brother Wounded In NYC UPDATE: A surveillance camera recorded a Long Island man stabbing a 17-year-old St. Joseph Regional High School football player dead and slashing his older brother during a fight in downtown Manhattan on Thanksgiving, city authorities revealed. An autopsy revealed that a 6-inch stab wound pierced the heart of Rocco Rodden in front of an ax-throwing bar on Lafayette Street around 1:50 a.m., Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eun Bi Kim said on Saturday, Nov. 25. The accused killer, Gianluca Bordone, 19, of Oyster Bay, was wearing a black sweatshirt with the word "courage" on the back when…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Schools
Career North Jersey Law Enforcer Patents Safety Device To Better Protect Kids In School Career North Jersey Law Enforcer Patents Safety Device To Better Protect Kids In School
Career North Jersey Law Enforcer Patents Safety Device To Better Protect Kids In School As challenges to school safety grow, so do the ideas to address them. Career law enforcer Robert Licamara has produced one that he hopes will make schools in North Jersey and beyond safer. The father of two from Wayne -- who became director of security for Fair Lawn's schools after more than two distinguished decades of police work -- has developed an electronically locked dropbox to replace open plastic bins that are often left in front of schools for parents and others to bring by students' items. Licamara, who spent much of his law enforcement career as an undercover detective, retired …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bicycle-Riding Career Offender With 20-Year Record Captured With Stolen Goods In Teaneck: PD Bicycle-Riding Career Offender With 20-Year Record Captured With Stolen Goods In Teaneck: PD
Bicycle-Riding Career Offender With 20-Year Record Captured With Stolen Goods In Teaneck: PD A career burglar with a record spanning exactly half of his entire life was arrested by Teaneck police after a resident reported seeing him stash a bicycle, a suitcase filled with 50 Red Bulls and a bag with several Roku streaming sticks inside in their backyard, authorities said. Police responded to the resident’s Oakdene Avenue home shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, Police Chief Andrew McGurr said. The resident led them to the stash in the backyard, the chief said. Police returned to the neighborhood two hours later after residents reported seeing the same man running through neigh…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Luxury NYC High-Rise Manager Stabbed By 2 Robbers Outside PalPark Home Luxury NYC High-Rise Manager Stabbed By 2 Robbers Outside PalPark Home
Luxury NYC High-Rise Manager Stabbed By 2 Robbers Outside PalPark Home A manager at a luxurious midtown-Manhattan highrise was stabbed in the leg while fighting off two robbers who'd jumped him outside his Palisades Park home Friday night. The victim was losing a lot of blood from a deep gash when borough police arrived shortly after 9 p.m. Nov. 3. The officers applied a tourniquet to the left leg that slowed the bleeding, authorities said. The victim told police he’d just gotten back after celebrating a work milestone in the city when he was attacked from behind while walking from his car to the front door of his East Palisades Boulevard home. The robbers o…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lifestyle
North Jersey Teen TikToker Wows Off-Broadway North Jersey Teen TikToker Wows Off-Broadway
North Jersey Teen TikToker Wows Off-Broadway Performing at a well known cabaret venue in Manhattan without a soundcheck would be nerve-wracking.  For 16-year-old Echo Picone, of Warren County, it was just another night on stage. The teen recently performed at 54 Below, as part of their "54 Sings Olivia Rodrigo" night.  Echo, a die-hard Livvy, sang "Favorite Crime," as part of a musical revue with well known Broadway performers and actors. The Warren Hills High School junior had to miss soundcheck for a very good reason — she was at school. "I was super excited," Echo, who lives in Washington and has been performing since she was fi…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Anti-Hamas Message On Electronic Billboard Over Route 80 Prompts Hundreds Of Calls To Police Anti-Hamas Message On Electronic Billboard Over Route 80 Prompts Hundreds Of Calls To Police
Anti-Hamas Message On Electronic Billboard Over Route 80 Prompts Hundreds Of Calls To Police An anti-Hamas message on a billboard overlooking Route 80 triggered hundreds of phone calls to a local police department due to a social media suggestion. "Oh, don't be naive," the electronic message on a hot pink background read. "Hamas would chop your head off too." It was signed "jewbelong." Bogota police fielded more than 100 complaints from callers, Bogota Police Sgt. Geoffrey Cole said late Tuesday, Oct. 17. Some were from people who felt threatened by the message, while others expressed fears over possible violence -- not to mention general outrage from those who felt targeted, t…

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by Jerry DeMarco