Luring cases are part of new reality across North Jersey
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2012 LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY OCTOBER 20, 2012, 2:13 PM
BY REBECCA D. O’BRIEN AND DEENA YELLIN
STAFF WRITERS
THE RECORD
At New Milford police headquarters on Friday, after the town became the latest in Bergen County to have an attempted child luring reported, cops got to talking about the way things used to be.
Police in four towns have released sketches based on incidents reported in their jurisdictions. The sketch shown was released by the Westwood Police Department on Thursday.
“We used to ride our bikes to school,” Chief Frank Papapietro said. “We would be in the woods all day long. It was just a different time.”
These days, the streets around schools in New Milford and many other towns in North Jersey — where kids once nonchalantly walked or biked without chaperones — are clogged with cars dropping students at the schools’ doorsteps. Kids are tethered to parents by cellphones and carefully managed schedules. At home and in school, children learn about “stranger danger.”
The concern over the steady stream of luring incidents in recent weeks — New Milford reported a second one on Friday afternoon — highlights the current anxiety over raising kids in Bergen County, known for its safe streets and good schools. With nearly a dozen incidents and four police sketches since mid-September, school districts have posted public alerts. National and international media have picked up the story of a “child abductor” and “North Jersey pervert” on the loose.
No child has been abducted during this string of attempted lurings.
this guy is a real jerk. you wonder why people buy a gun.