After reaching a department high last year, Chief of Police Michael Miller believes the area is getting safer for its residents
Berlin Borough saw the highest total arrests in the municipality’s history this past year, reaching 1,041, according to police department records. The number of arrests in 2018 jumped by nearly 200 from the 856 arrests made the year prior.
While the statement that total arrests have risen in recent years, and now just recently reached an all-time high for the borough, can be eye-catching for some residents, Chief of Police Michael Miller believes that thought process can be misleading.
Miller became chief of the department in the fall of 2016, where the total number of burglaries for the year would end up at 67, the highest in borough history.
In his first two full years as chief, burglaries have dropped to 22 and 13, respectively, despite an increasing population. Additionally, thefts have also dropped both years.
Miller says, since taking over as chief, he has tried to convey a more proactive police department to create a safer environment.
“It’s kind of like the broken-window theory of policing,” Miller said. “If you let the minor things go, people are going to see that. That invites crime in, but if you take care of the little things… and if people driving through town see that we have an active, accountable police department, I think that helps us lower crime.”
During Miller’s first full year as chief in 2017, the department issued a department high in citations and summons with the goal of enforcing all laws fully to reduce crime, which thus far appears to be working, according to police documents.
For example, car stops happen to be the number one complaint from residents, according to Miller, with drivers speeding around local neighborhoods too fast. This is something the department has aimed to work on over the past few years.
“It’s not that we’re being heavy-handed, it’s that our guys are more accountable to what they need to do out there,” Miller said.
Berlin Borough Council President Jim Pearce, who is also chairman of public safety, believes another factor that has increased the police department’s’ efforts to keep residents safe is the addition of a second detective in recent years.
“One of the things that [Miller] talked about when he took over as chief was having two detectives,” Pearce said.
According to both Pearce and Miller, the department had two detectives in the past before having only one in recent years. However, the department once again has two detectives on staggering shifts to better assist officers.
Probably the most startling figure for the department and borough is something expected, as the entire nation continues to struggle with the issue: drugs.
Drug arrests reached a department high of 251 in 2018, increasing by approximately 64 percent from the previous year. From 2005 to 2012, Berlin Borough averaged 27 drug arrests per year. However, since 2013 when the figure jumped to 119 drug arrests, the total has steadily increased every year.
The department currently has multiple avenues by which it is trying to alleviate the drug and opiate problem locally. K-9 Radko was welcomed to the police department in the middle of 2017, making this previous year his first full year with the force.
Miller says the addition of the police dog has made it much easier to get harmful substances off the streets and out of the hands of people both residing in and passing through Berlin Borough.
“I think it helps because now we have a tool that we can use right away,” Miller said. “When he’s working, we can just bring him around the car and he sniffs and helps us search the car.”
Additionally, the rollout of a pilot program called Project SAVE to all Camden County municipalities for 2019, which Berlin Borough joined, aims to seek assistance for lower-level drug offenders before it gets serious. The program places a New Jersey certified drug and alcohol counselor in the municipal courtroom to assist defendants and others suffering from addiction with treatment.
“The drug epidemic definitely is the partial cause as to why that [total] has gone up,” Miller said. “It seems like every day they’re arresting someone that has drugs.”
“The drugs are always a concern. I think Project SAVE is a step in the right direction to get people the help they need,” Miller added.
Overall, Miller says the department is headed in the right direction toward making Berlin Borough a safer place for its residents.
“We’re more reactive to our residents’ concerns about the issues in their neighborhood,” Miller said. “You’re in your neighborhood and you want to feel safe, and that’s a big concern for residents — to have their grievances addressed.”
