Essex County Made Arrests In 71% Of Homicides Amid COVID Pandemic – Patch.com

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Fighting crime in the middle of a global pandemic didn’t stop Essex County authorities from arresting suspects in nearly three of four homicides that took place in the area last year, prosecutors say.

On Thursday, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office (ECPO) released yearly statistics for homicides, noting that the agency’s closeout rate for homicides was well above the national average for 2020.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens II said arrests were made in 71 percent of the homicides that occurred in the county last year.

“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,” Stephens added. “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.”

In a news release, prosecutors said that there were 78 homicides in Essex County in 2020 – down four percent from 2019. Of those, 55 were solved: a 71 percent close out rate.

That number doesn’t include six homicides from 2018 and 2019 that were solved in 2020, prosecutors added.

According to FBI statistics, the national average closeout rate for homicides has been in the low 60 percent range in recent years, prosecutors said.

“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.

Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said the ECPO’s results would be impressive in any year, but are “truly remarkable” considering the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which has ravaged Essex County.

“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,” Grewal said. “I commend Prosecutor Stephens for his leadership and accomplishments, including his commitment to strengthening community trust during these difficult times.”

Several members of the ECPO offered their opinions about why the agency saw success last year.

“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 of Detectives Mitchell McGuire said.

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 the entire staff has risen to the occasion.

“We did our jobs,” Sukhdeo said. “We did justice and we protected our staff.”

Stephens said special recognition should also go the Special Victims Unit and the Domestic Violence Unit, both of which “continued to do great work amid the pandemic.”

According to the ECPO, its 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.

Meanwhile, the Domestic Violence Unit reviewed 3,221 cases, prosecutors stated.

Prosecutors added another shout out for the agency’s pretrial units:

“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 October 20, some 143 matters have been presented to the Grand Jury.”

“Even though holding 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, the other pretrial units – Central Judicial Processing, Detention and Remand Court – continued to operate six days a week in the pandemic, handling work critically important to the overall operation of the courts and the fair administration of justice, authorities said.

“When COVID-19 struck in March, the work of the Central Judicial Processing court (CJP) continued seamlessly,” said Myrna Perez-Drace, assistant prosecutor and director of the pre-indictment unit.

According to the ECPO:

“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 of 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 of 2020, the CJP non-custody court has had 2,148 defendants and/or their private counsel appear for their first appearance, authorities said.

The Detention Unit, which handles hearings to determine whether a defendant will be kept in custody, filed 2,254 detention motions since March of 2020, prosecutors said.

The Special Remand Court, which is a municipal court housed in the Superior Court resolving more serious indictable offenses which have been downgraded to disorderly persons offenses, handled 469 cases since March 2020, authorities stated.

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 thru the end of December 2020.

Executive Assistant Prosecutor Gwendolyn Williams, who oversees the Drug Court, the Mental Health Unit, Pre-Trial Intervention, Expungements, Victim/Witness Services and Community Justice, kept those units functioning during the pandemic, prosecutors said.

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.

The unit won the Attorney General’s Excellence in Policing Award for 2020, which is part of the Attorney General’s 21 County, 21st Century program, aimed at enhancing relationships between law enforcement and the community.

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