To increase opportunities to connect with residents, the
Belleville Police Department has reissued its bike patrol.
Walking Tall
Belleville Local 28 members take strides to bolster
department’s community policing success
■ MITCHELL KRUGEL
Walk to School Day forged a line that extended several blocks
with children and Belleville Local 28 members. Smiles trimming
the kids’ faces and playfulness occurring throughout this march
to class belied the early-morning chill.
Here was yet another enactment of the Belleville Police De-
partment’s revitalized commitment to generate a community
policing culture throughout the township. The blue line thick-
ening with the first-ever Walk to School Day in late late fall 2018
was one of a series of events and initiatives connecting residents
with officers to create a partnership, making Belleville feel the
splendor of its law enforcement.
“We’re an old town with a certain ethnic prevalence, and I felt
we needed to reconnect to the community in that way,” reasons
Belleville Chief Mark Minichini.
Having worked his way up from walking a beat in town
through the detective bureau, Minichini has long-established
roots in Belleville. He is equally vested in the Local 28 members,
having served as Local president in the early 1990s alongside a
State Delegate named Tony Wieners. He saw the need and the
opportunity to bring that all together when becoming chief on
July 1, 2016.
“You can’t do this alone,” Minichini continues. “Our officers
need to know the citizens they are serving to gain their respect
and have them on their side. And it’s important for citizens to
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ FEBRUARY 2019
know officers in the community.”
Amidst the constant, call-to-call response demand Belleville
officers often face, community interaction can be a luxury more
than a planned police practice. So two years ago, the adjust-
ment began with a simple request for officers to make sure they
knew the name of the store owner wherever they bought their
coffee at the start of a shift.
From there, the chief asked officers on patrol to get out of
their cars when not responding and walk into a business to in-
troduce themselves. The commitment to get to know citizens
included walking in residential communities on Saturdays and
during after-school hours to talk with kids and even play with
them.
Officers became more comfortable talking to residents, and
residents became more comfortable talking to law enforcement.
And, according to Belleville Mayor Michael Melham, the unin-
tended consequence of the community connection has been an
overall reduction in crime. But there was more to it than that.
“It has brought a little bit of humanity back to policing,” Local
28 State Delegate Armando Nardone observes. “The presence
absolutely makes a difference. My biggest thing is that when a
child acted out, their parents would say, ‘This guy is going to
take you away.’ Then, they would point to a police officer. So
they grow up being scared of police. Now, we have a chance to
let them know that if you need help, you should run to a police
officer.”