Full Notification

Township Residents and Neighborhood Watch Captains

Please let me first assure you that the safety and well-being of our residents and their homes are of the utmost priority to the Morris Township Police Department.
Over the last couple of months there has been an increase in burglaries and thefts, specifically in the Harter Road/James Street area and the Columbia Road area.
The Columbia Road area has seen several thefts from vehicles. The best way to protect yourself from being a victim of a theft from your vehicle is to lock your vehicle doors and remove any valuable items from plain sight.
The Harter Road and James Street area has seen several burglaries. The patterns of the burglaries in this area are as follows:
Friday or Saturday night between 7 pm and midnight. The suspect(s) have entered through the front door and exit through a rear door. This pattern may be indicative of a specific burglary crew that look for the following:
Double front doors – which are easier to force open
Indications of an unoccupied residence
Night time hours between 7 pm and midnight
Actors head directly to the Master Bedroom - looking for valuables and jewelry
Usually males in groups of 3-4
Use overgrown shrubbery as concealment
May use daytime hours to locate a potential target residence
These have been identified as a pattern of characteristics, but are not limited to the above.

Recommendations for Deterrence:
Maintain shrubbery around doors and windows, use interior and exterior lighting, give appearance that the residence is occupied, do not leave delivered packages visible from the street, do not allow mail and/or newspapers to pile up, lock doors, consider leaving vehicle visible in driveway, request a free home security survey from our Police Department (contact Ptl. McIver at 973-326-7450), place your home on our vacant home check list (available by calling Records Department 973-326 7473 or on our website at morristwp.com), do not advertise on social media that you will be away from your home.
Police Department Actions:
The Morris Township Police have already taken measures to increase patrol in the affected areas, have enacted community outreach measures to educate on how to deter crime and have communicated with our residents in regards to the burglaries and thefts on a regular basis. We have scheduled two Neighborhood Watch Captain meetings for September 13 and 18, 2018. The police department will also address the burglaries and thefts by:
Continuing to effectively communicate with our residents 
Take investigative and patrol measures to identify and apprehend offenders
Work with County Law Enforcement and neighboring police agencies that are experiencing similar incidents  
Continue to educate our residents on deterring and preventing a crime to their homes  
Provide officers with intelligence reports and training that will assist them in identifying criminal patterns and behaviors specific to our burglaries and thefts.
 
What the Public Can Do:      
Report suspicious behavior immediately, to include description of actor(s), description of vehicle(s), including make, model and license plate if possible and specific actions taken by the actor(s). Please follow our above recommendations and try your best to be your neighborhood’s “eyes and ears.”
Thank You,
Chief Mark DiCarlo