Vigil Friday in wake of shootings
Menna calls for heightened security, community policing
BY MELISSA KARSH Staff Writer
I n response to the recent violence on the Red Bank west side that left two men in critical condition, community members will come together Friday in a show of solidarity.

Anthony Sims

The Rev. Terrence K. Porter, of Pilgrim Baptist Church on Shrewsbury Avenue, has organized a candlelight vigil to take place at the recreation center at the Montgomery Terrace complex, where two men were shot last week. Anthony Sims, 19, has been charged with the shootings.

"My concern was to address that this is a community issue," said Porter. "[The vigil] is an opportunity for the entire community to come out and show solidarity that we recognize that this is a community issue."

Porter invited community members in a Nov. 30 e-mail to attend the vigil and meet at 8:30 p.m. at Pilgrim Baptist Church and then travel via car to Montgomery Terrace for a 45-minute to onehour program that would include prayer and song.

In addition to the vigil, Porter and the Rev. Randy McNeil of Mount Zion House of Prayer will be holding follow-up discussions for community members to discuss the shootings in a larger context of all that is going on in the borough.

"We didn't just want to meet and do nothing, we wanted to bring attention [to the issue] and then go from there," said Porter. "We can do more as a community and a partnership than in isolation."

Porter also hopes this incident will shed some light on a larger issue in the Red Bank community.

He said that issue was to "bring attention to the fact that we need to be proactive in establishing programs for young people in our community."

"Pastor Porter, basically he does a lot for the community and he's helped Montgomery Terrace with many events, and the church has been very involved with the community," said Montgomery Terrace resident Tabitha Jamison Monday. "And when something like this happens, the church is going to be involved. I think it's a good thing."

Jamison said she heard that the two men who were shot and taken to a nearby hospital were brothers.

According to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, there was an uninjured third victim who was shot at but not struck, and while Sims has been charged with three counts of first-degree attempted murder and three counts of second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, he has not yet been apprehended.

"Sims remains at large and is considered armed and dangerous," said Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin in a press release.

Jamison and other residents of Montgomery Terrace attended a recent Human Relations Advisory Committee meeting to voice some of their concerns about the safety of their neighborhood.

"We went there because there was a shooting out there, which since I've moved to Montgomery Terrace, was the third shooting. We have a constant complaint to the police about loitering and drug activity," said Jamison.

She said one of those incidents occurred about three years ago on the first day she moved into the apartment complex.

"We're concerned, and there is good people living out here, and we just want it to be peaceful," she added.

In response to residents' concerns, Mayor Pasquale Menna requested that the Red Bank Housing Authority ramp up security on its properties, which include Montgomery Terrace.

He said the process includes having an internal security force that would coordinate closely with the Red Bank Police Department, like those used by housing authorities in Long Branch and Asbury Park.

"We would like to see clearly visible 'no trespass,' 'no loitering' signs," said Menna. "If someone is not an invitee or a resident and has no business being there, they will be removed from the property and arrested for trespassing."

He added, "If [residents] are engaging in criminal activity from the apartment and they are convicted of that, then they should be evicted."

Menna also said the borough would undertake more effective police patrols, which would include an increase in community policing, foot patrols and a greater connection with residents.

"The police chief has already been directed to put extra effort and strength toward problematic areas … concentrate on their visibility," said Menna.

Menna said the borough is also working on securing more funding for video cameras to place around the municipality and has asked New Jersey Transit to increase the presence and lighting around the train station on Monmouth Street.

He said he will be looking into increasing the lighting along Shrewsbury Avenue and Monmouth Street to increase the visibility in those areas.

Another issue that Menna said needs to be addressed is the overcrowding in the borough.

"Overcrowding feeds into a whole quality of-life situation, and you can't blame the tenants for the profits of the landlords. It is all being driven by greed, and we are going to clamp down and identify the culprits," Menna said of his plan to publish the names of the landlords who have been fined for overcrowding in the borough.

Borough officials will be holding, in conjunction with the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, an amnesty for those individuals who may possess illegal handguns to turn them in to the borough prior to Jan. 1, 2008, no questions asked.

"The idea is to get them [unlicensed and illegal handguns] off the street," said Menna.

Authorities are still seeking Sims in connection with the shootings of the two men, who received life-threatening injuries and had to undergo surgery, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

"Anyone with more information regarding Sims' whereabouts is urged to contact police immediately so that he can be swiftly and safely taken into custody," the press release from the Prosecutor's Office stated.

Sims is described as a black male, weighing approximately 160 pounds, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a dark complexion, black hair and brown eyes, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

Anyone will information regarding Sims' current whereabouts and/or the shootings is asked to immediately call Detective Jeff Wilbert of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office at (800) 533-7433 and/or Detective Robert Clayton of the Red Bank Police Department at (732) 530-2719.