71 percent of Essex County homicides solved in 2020 – Essex News Daily
ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens II announced Feb. 4 that the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office made arrests in 71 percent of the homicides that occurred in the county in 2020.
“In the grip of a global pandemic, which forced our office and law enforcement across the nation to pivot, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office did an extraordinary job investigating some of the most heinous crimes that occurred in 2020 in our region,’’ Stephens said. “Policing and prosecuting in a pandemic are obviously challenging. But almost a year later, I believe the men and women of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, working with our partners in law enforcement and the community at large, have done an extraordinary job of balancing our duty to maintain public safety with being a part of a caring community.”
There were 78 homicides in Essex County in 2020, down 4 percent from 2019. Of that number 55 were solved — a 71-percent closeout rate. That number does not include the six homicides from 2018 and 2019 that were solved in 2020.
According to FBI statistics, the national average closeout rate for homicides has been in the low–60-percent range in recent years.
“When you consider the restrictions and limitations we faced, those numbers reflect the dedication of our staff even as many of our personnel became sick or suffered losses in their own families,’’ Stephens said.
“These results would be impressive in any year, but the fact that they were achieved during the COVID emergency makes them truly remarkable,” N.J. Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said. “Undaunted by the pandemic, the members of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and their law enforcement partners at all levels have proven their dedication and skill in case after case. I commend Prosecutor Stephens for his leadership and accomplishments, including his commitment to strengthening community trust during these difficult times.”
While some of the traditional methods of investigating were disrupted, Chief of Detectives Mitchell McGuire said, “I believe our success can be attributed to our continuing partnerships and information sharing with our local, county, state and federal partners; better technology and training; improved relationships with the community; and, of course, the tried and true investigative methods we have always used.’’
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly, who oversees the assistant prosecutors who handle homicide cases, said, in addition to changing the investigatory methods, the Homicide Unit faced other logistical concerns that needed to be addressed because of COVID-19.
“We had to make sure that investigators were safe, and that victims and witnesses were safe during a public health emergency,’’ Fennelly said. “For example, ordinarily all the detectives and assistant prosecutors work in the same office. Concern that a single case of COVID-19 could put a large part of the unit out of commission, the staff was split up at different locations.’’
First Assistant Prosecutor Romesh Sukhdeo said, “Our entire staff has risen to the occasion and continues to, because we remain in a very serious situation in terms of the spread of COVID-19. We did our jobs. We did justice and we protected our staff.’’
According to Stephens, special recognition should also go to the Special Victims and the Domestic Violence units. The Special Victims Unit processed a total of 1,331 cases; the vast majority were abuse against children, including sexual and physical abuse as well as neglect. The Domestic Violence Unit reviewed 3,221 cases.
Far less well known to the public is the work of the pretrial units, particularly the Grand Jury Unit, which was constrained to hold grand jury proceedings virtually. Since October 2020, when the virtual grand jury began, there have been three virtual grand jury panels operating with jurors participating from home via Zoom. Since Oct. 20, some 143 matters have been presented to the grand jury.
“Even though holding a virtual grand jury is far from perfect, we have worked with the courts to move cases along, understanding that as the pandemic continues the delays were untenable,’’ Stephens said.
In addition to the Grand Jury Unit, the other pretrial units — Central Judicial Processing, Detention and Remand Court — continued to operate six days a week in the pandemic, handling work critical to the overall operation of the courts and the fair administration of justice.
“When COVID-19 struck in March, the work of the Central Judicial Processing court continued seamlessly,’’ said Assistant Prosecutor Myrna Perez-Drace, director of the Pre-Indictment Unit.
The CJP Unit was divided into two separate and distinct courts — one only hearing custody matters and the other court hearing all non-custody matters.
Overnight what was once an in-person court was transformed into a totally virtual operation. All attorneys were provided with laptops and were able to see all defendants from a virtual feed from the jail.
Despite the abrupt change, no defendant spent more than 48 hours awaiting their first appearance. Since COVID struck in March 2020, the CJP custody court has processed 5,994 defendants.
Similarly, non-custody cases continued to be processed virtually. The non-custody defendants appear from the safety of their home via Zoom for their first appearance, Perez-Drace said.
Since May 2020, the CJP non-custody court has had 2,148 defendants and/or their private counsel appear for their first appearance.
The Detention Unit, which handles hearings to determine whether a defendant will be kept in custody, filed 2,254 detention motions since March 2020.
The Special Remand Court, which is a municipal court housed in the Superior Court resolving more serious indictable offenses that have been downgraded to disorderly persons offenses, handled 469 cases since March 2020.
During that same period, using virtual Zoom calendar calls, 144 matters were resolved via pleas and an additional 315 matters were ultimately dismissed after investigation and review through the end of December 2020.
Executive Assistant Prosecutor Gwendolyn Williams, who oversees Drug Court, the Mental Health Unit, Pre-Trial Intervention, Expungements, Victim/Witness Services and Community Justice, kept those units functioning during the pandemic.
Following the death of George Floyd, Williams organized a series of virtual community meetings to discuss race and policing, use of force, and related topics. Because this unit has been on the cutting edge in developing and implementing community outreach programs, it won the attorney general’s Excellence in Policing Award for 2020. The award is part of the attorney general’s 21-County, 21st Century Community Policing Project, which is aimed at enhancing relationships between law enforcement and the community.
“The dedication and passion of our investigators and assistant prosecutors is not something that can be taught. Their sense of duty, even during the most trying times, keeps them working tirelessly,’’ McGuire said.
“The pursuit of justice is the sacred duty of all law enforcement agencies,” Stephens said. “Despite the unprecedented challenges of 2020, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office combined our commitment to seeking justice with creativity and resilience to accomplish these impressive results.”