Community Corner

Mazariego Murder Shapes Town Hall Meeting

Meeting on Village Green open to all topics, but police priorities and communication flow were top concerns.

The roughly 30 residents that came out Thursday night for the second town hall meeting sponsored by Council President Dave Bomgaars all had one thing on their mind: the recent murder of 47-year-old Summit resident Abelino Mazariego.

After a short presentation on the Mayor's Partnership for the Arts, Bomgaars opened the informal meeting on the Village Green to the public for comments and questions on any and all topics, moderated by President of Hometowne Television Fred Honold.

Almost every question or comment linked back in some way to the brutal, videotaped attack of July 17 in the Promenade park on Springfield Avenue. Three area teens, Kharyi Williams-Clark of Summit, Nigel Dumas of Morristown and an unidentified 17-year-old Summit minor, have all been charged with murder in connection with Mazariego's death.

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One of the many discussions centered around the police department's allocation of resources and prioritization of patrols around the city.

Councilman Rich Madden said he would be in favor of surveillance cameras downtown, something Councilwoman Ellen Dickson said she would also be in favor of near the parking garages.

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But Pat Hurley, a resident on Ashland Road, said he thinks the recent murder is indicative of a larger problem within the police force, citing little to no foot patrols and a reliance on writing tickets to generate revenue.

"If the downtown had a lower risk in the past, clearly it seems it should be bumped up in the risk assessment," Bomgaars said. "Clearly it appears it needs to be revisited and changed in my mind."

Councilwoman Nuris Portuondo said several weeks ago she did a ride-a-long with the police on the night shift. From her experience that Friday night she said the police priorities are to patrol the train station, downtown, parking garages and drunk driving.

In addition to police priorities, the communication flow, or lack thereof, was also a topic for concern.

"I still feel that if there is an incident occurring in town where we live, where we work together, where we shop, where we worship, that we all should be apprised of it immediately," Madden said. "I think that if we have kids in town or for ourselves, we'd like to know about it."

Another issue Dickson said is that the police chief reports directly to the mayor.

"I'm constantly reminded that the police force reports to the mayor," Dickson said. "I don't feel like I've had a lot of input as far as the police."

But Anette Dwyer urged the residents in attendance and those on council to give the police time to finish their investigation before the community begins a dialogue about the issues stemming from this incident.

"We will, I know, as a community come together and be able to address the facts when the facts are available to us," she said, "to assure the public of the safety of this community."

The first step in acceptance however, Maureen Kelly said, is calling the thing by its name.

"Instead of saying incident, say murder," she said. "That's what it was. If you do that, we will have a breakthrough. That's the way people compartmentalize things in their lives."

Also in attendance were Councilman Tom Getzendanner and City Administrator Chris Cotter. Neither Mayor Jordan Glatt nor Police Chief Robert Lucid could be in attendance.


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