Woodbury police put boots on the ground

WOODBURY - Detective Sgt. Kelli Marro and Sgt. Bill Palese roamed through South Woodbury on foot Tuesday evening, looking for one thing: residents.

The foot patrol is part of a boots-on-the-ground initiative new Police Chief Thomas Ryan revived in October to connect his officers with the residents the department serves.

When officers park their cruisers and hit the neighborhoods on foot, their mission is only to meet with neighbors, know their faces and names, listen to concerns and field questions.

"Their sole purpose is to be there for the neighborhood," said Ryan, sworn in as chief in August.

"People have questions they want to ask officers, but they don't have the opportunity to."

The department posts foot patrols along South Broad Street — Woodbury's ailing business district.

But patrolling other parts of town is a "recommitment to the entire town and the neighborhoods to let them know we're available to everyone," the chief told the Courier-Post.

The initiative rolled out in October as a five-week trial and will continue in the spring, the chief expects.

"We got a better reaction than I thought," said investigator Brian Boucher, among the officers participating in the four-hour shifts.

"People definitely liked seeing us in their section of the neighborhood."

In meeting with the Woodbury Rotary, Main Street Woodbury and council, Ryan fielded the same request over and over.

"People kept talking about more presence of foot patrols," he explained.

"It stuck with me. People kept beating the same drum."

The feedback from the officers, who take the new patrols on a volunteer basis, was "amazingly positive," the chief said.

"They come back and say, 'I loved it,' besides walking in the uniform for four hours," he laughed.

The first time out, Marro and investigator Andy DiGiambattista were swarmed by curious and excited kids playing near an apartment complex off Evergreen Avenue. Their parents asked the officers questions.

"We're only 2 miles wide. People have the same issues. We always want to hear what their specific concerns are," DiGiambattista said.

"You have a greater view of what's happening in your neighborhood, when it's happening and what's most important."

Late Tuesday afternoon, Marro and Palese took to the streets, walking Woodbury's West End.

The pair approached John and Julie Ann Malamon working to replace the taillight on their car. The couple's children, playing in the yard, stopped to watch the officers pass.

Waves exchanged between the foursome turned into a discussion about car break-ins and stolen bikes in the neighborhood.

"There's a lot of people in your neighborhood, too, who have the same things happen," Palese told them.

Marro reminded the couple of the next West End Neighborhood Association meeting at the police station on Dec. 1.

John Malamon admitted he'd thought about calling the department a month ago, as he watched a man walk from car to car down his street, pulling at door handles.

By the time he would have called, the man would have been gone, he said.

The Malamons have been victims of car burglaries and a home break-in. Their bicycles have been stolen from their yard, his wife explained.

"I'm glad they're going around on foot. That's the way to do it," Malamon said.

While it's not the program's aim just yet, Marro said her presence in communities could be a crime deterrent.

"A lot of people don't want to bother us. But they're not. This is our job," Marro said.

"Being there gave them a sense of security."

Carly Q. Romalino: (856) 486-2476; cromalino@gannettnj.com