WAYNE — It seems to come out from nowhere.
Someone plants a germ of an idea on social media, and before long, 50 or 100 people are ransacking an abandoned building or revving their engines in a parking lot after dark.
The reckless behavior can shatter a soundless summer night, or worse — it can provoke a public safety crisis.
Yet such unsanctioned gatherings are occurring more often, officials said, and they have forced police to spend valuable time to enforce them.
Now the township is asking for help from the state to fund overtime wages for designated patrol units assigned to deter flash mobs and pop-up parties — especially in the area of Willowbrook Boulevard, where they are a recurring nuisance.
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“It sucks all the resources to the southern part of town,” said Mayor Christopher Vergano. “Then, you bring in other towns to assist you, and they’re diminishing their coverage.”
The Township Council at a recent public meeting authorized an application to the New Jersey Office of Attorney General for a $35,269 grant to properly address the disruptive gatherings.
Municipal law enforcement agencies applied for a $500,000 pool of funding, and they were informed in April that grants of up to $50,000 would be awarded.
A spokesperson for the attorney general said Tuesday that the grant recipients were not yet selected.
Between January 2023 and May of this year, officials said, police responded 19 times to break up numerous people gathering at an abandoned office building at 65 Willowbrook Blvd. — the site of a notorious pop-up party in June 2022 that resulted in at least 40 people being charged with trespassing.
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“These large-scale congregations often led to reports of criminal mischief and loud noise complaints,” according to the grant application sent to the state.
The nine-story building has been tied up in court over a dispute involving its sale for more than two years.
In addition to incidents there, officials said police have responded to 16 car meetups where drivers were doing doughnuts and drag racing in a parking lot at Willowbrook Plaza, a nearby shopping center.
Pop-up parties are wreaking havoc in other communities, particularly along the shore.
Police in the resort city of Wildwood were able to crash one last month, but farther north, in Long Branch, the problem has apparently become so bad that the mayor threatened to enact a curfew .
The issue is also grabbing the attention of state lawmakers, who last week introduced a package of bills — A-4651 , A-4652 and A-4653 — to require the attorney general to establish a training program for crowd management and to supply resources to local agencies for flash mobs and pop-up parties. The proposed legislation would establish the offense of “inciting a public brawl,” and in some cases, it would upgrade penalties for disorderly conduct.
State Assemblyman Cody Miller, D-Turnersville, who is co-sponsoring the bills with state assemblymen Dan Hutchison, D-Laurel Springs, and William Spearman, D-Woodbury, said the motivation behind the proposals was a melee involving hundreds of teenagers at Gloucester Township Day last month. The fighting reportedly ended in 12 arrests.
“It’s an issue of public safety because we’re taking cops off the street to respond to these events,” Miller said.
Wayne officials said in their grant application that the state funding would cover the cost of three patrol units on five-hour details over a period of 19 weeks.
“We’re trying to be proactive and to keep the neighborhood safe,” Vergano said. “This grant would alleviate that situation.”
Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: devencentis@northjersey.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Wayne has an issue with pop-up parties. Can funding for extra patrols stop them?
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