Police Chief Initiates 'High Visibility' Effort to Prevent Holiday Crime

If you plan to do your holiday shopping in Parsippany, don't be surprised to see a stepped-up presence for local police. Starting Friday, the Parsippany Police Department is implementing a new patrol initiative for all area shopping centers.

"I initiated the plan," said Police Chief Anthony DeZenzo, "in anticipation of high shopping volume and to help combat crimes we encounter this time of the year."

DeZenzo said he felt boosting the presence of the police in shopping areas would bolster shoppers' confidence, "especially in the wake of those , plus historically we always have some sort of crime as a result of the shopping crowds at the plazas."

"We're doing a high visibility patrol. We've assigned police officers pretty much constantly through the early afternoon and early evening hours at the plazas," he explained. "They're going to be in marked cars with the lights going, as well as unmarked detectives who periodically will going through the plazas.

The chief said the focus will be on preventing crimes such as shoplifting, car thefts, robbery.

Asked how this initiative would affect already tight department staffing, DeZenzo said special police officers are being brought in to augment the patrol division staff.  Shopping-center patrol will become part of their routine. According to the chief, a patrol officer assigned to cover a particular section of the township now is "required periodically" to check on each shopping center within that section. 

"The specials will be [at the shopping centers] on a full-time basis [early afternoon through evening]  and then the officers assigned to the sections will periodically go through the shopping plazas," the chief said.

DeZenzo contends the initiative will have little impact on the police budget.

"It's just going to be the officers who normally are on general patrol," he said. "Instead of just driving around, they're going to be given specific instructions about where to be, and that's the shopping plazas."

He said that the hope is to keep holiday crime down, and with that in mind, the department warns residents to lock their vehicles when parked and secure in the trunk items such as pocketbooks, GPS systems, laptops, cell phones, iPods, or any items of value when the vehicle is unattended.