By Michael Hill
Correspondent
Thirty-three-year-old Markice Hatten became the latest homicide victim on Monday in Jersey City. There have been five since Nov. 12 with no one in handcuffs and no one to blame for the recent blood shed. The state’s second biggest city has had 15 homicides this year by gunfire.
“Well, sadly another similarity among all our shootings this year is that I don’t have a single witness to any of them. And as you said that makes no sense,” said James Shea, Jersey City public safety director. “We don’t have a single civilian witness.”
Shea says most of the shootings and killings are happening in the western and southern parts of town – heavily African American neighborhoods. He says some residents assume the crime has no impact on them. With others, there’s a trust issue blocking witness cooperation.
“The African American community in the United States has a long and tortured history with law enforcement. It’s one of the only communities that has not treated fairly by law enforcement, or been treated well. There’s been a negative effect on the African American community on the past and today, in 2015, we’re dealing with the legacy and the residue of 100 years of negative interactions with the police,” Shea said.
“The shootings that have happened have been targeted shootings and gang related. They’re not random shootings by any stretch of the imagination,” said Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop.
The mayor and public safety director say gun-toting, African American men ages 18 to 25 – and a little older in some cases – make up most of the homicide victims and perpetrators.
Hatten served time for drug distribution and had five gun violations on his rap sheet and was targeted for murder twice.
You would think given Hatten’s rap sheet, surviving, not one, but two hits on this life and his street life that circumstances finally caught up with him. But, the public safety director says no.
“A lot of my shooting victims were also perpetrators of violence. The sad part is we had witnesses who helped us catch them when the perpetrated violence then they wouldn’t be out on the street to get murdered or get shot,” Shea said.
“I do think that is one of the components. But I also think there is no relationship between the police and the citizens,” said Pamela Johnson.
The Jersey City Anti-Violence Coalition Movement says police have added more patrols to troubled neighborhoods, but it’s about engagement that can lead to trust.
“I didn’t see that community engagement process. I saw police officers standing on the corner, but I didn’t see them greeting or meeting people. So you kind of have to indulge in a relationship or a conversation to kind of start the process,” Johnson said.
“It’s going to take both of us coming together to deal with the hardcore criminals within,” Shea said.
For now, the violence seems to target those who live by violence in Jersey City, but stakeholders know that’s no guarantee.