Mehrotra and Montes Release Plan to Address Crime Wave

MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ—Candidates for Borough Council Anjali Mehrotra and Ileana Montes today announced their plan to address public safety in Mountainside. Council’s weak response to the epidemic of car break-ins and burglaries in recent weeks is another example of its failure to provide leadership and effectively respond to the needs of Mountainside residents. The candidates’ five-point plan includes increasing patrols, bringing back the neighborhood watch, coordinating more with surrounding municipalities, and increasing transparency and communication.

“These break-ins have become a major problem in our community, and the Borough Council has been silent,” said Mehrotra, “Our families are in danger, but instead of tackling the issue head-on, Borough Council is once again burying its head in the sand and hoping residents won’t notice. Well, the time of sweeping problems under the rug is coming to a close.”

Mehrotra and Montes have a five-point public safety plan to make Mountainside safe again.

• Increase patrols in our neighborhoods to catch the people responsible for these crimes and send a strong message that Mountainside residents are not sitting ducks.
• Set up and promote Neighborhood Watch programs across the Borough to raise awareness of suspicious behavior in our neighborhoods and alert police to that activity.
• Increase transparency and improve communication between Borough government, our Police Department, and Mountainside residents to let residents know about crimes in their area and disseminate information on how best to protect their families.
• Coordinate closely with our surrounding communities to have a regional approach to public safety issues.
• Listen to residents’ concerns and respond quickly in order to tackle problems in a timely manner, before they become epidemics.

“We need to take action to stop these break-ins and to restore the sense of security that makes Mountainside feel like home,” said Montes, “We have a Police Committee for a reason, but they have not met with residents or taken any meaningful actions to address this problem. Anjali and I have a plan to address public safety in Mountainside. We need leaders in Borough Hall who will face challenges head-on in a responsible fashion instead of leaders who neglect problems.”

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