Since the Hoboken St. Patrick’s Day parade was last held in 2011, there has been a dramatic reduction in crime during the annual St. Patrick’s Day event, an event organized by various Hoboken bars and restaurants. This year there were 39 ambulance calls, a 58% reduction since 2011, 11 arrests, a 68% reduction since 2011, and 95 summonses issued for quality of life violations such as open containers and urinating in public, a 68% reduction since 2011. Five bars received tavern sheets: two for assaults, two for overcrowding, and one for a medical issue.
“A big thank you to the Hoboken Police Department, Fire Department, Office of Emergency Management, Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Community Emergency Response Team, Parking Utility and sanitation team,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “There has been a huge drop in crime and quality of life issues and a reduction in public safety costs since the last year of the parade in 2011. In addition, the Police Department received only three calls regarding house parties this year. I especially want to thank Chief Ferrante for his proactive and cost-effective policing approach and Lieutenant DeTrizio and Sergeant Aguiar for their quick action that saved a man’s life in an unrelated suicide attempt that night.”
“Ambulance calls and arrests are at all-time lows - strong indications that instances of major fights and dangerous intoxication are greatly reduced,” said Police Chief Kenneth Ferrante. “Instead of having to react to fights and other emergencies which take officers away from their assignments, they could stay at their posts and focus on proactively controlling crowds. As a result of the decreased amount of arrests, large fights, and persons going to hospitals which takes officers off the street, more officers were able to focus their attention on quality of life issues.”
