You are here

'We've had enough!' — pastors say Jersey City is 'in a crisis' over violence

PHOTO COURTESY ST. PAUL'S, JERSEY CITY
By: 
Terrence T. McDonald / The Jersey Journal

[The Jersey Journal] Enough.

That was the message a group of nearly three dozen religious and community leaders sent today about the violence that has plagued Jersey City's southern neighborhoods in the last two months.

Standing outside a deli at the corner of Old Bergen Road and Neptune Avenue — where Markice Hatten, 33, was fatally shot on Nov. 23 in the city's most recent homicide — the pastors led a prayer service and demanded city police officials meet with them to discuss the violence.

"The police don't seem to have the sense of urgency that we share," the Rev. Mona Fitch-Elliot, of St. John's Lutheran Church, said today.

The pastors, part of a group called Jersey City Together, said they called Police Chief Philip Zacche's office nearly two weeks ago to request he join them for a Dec. 1 meeting to discuss the recent shootings, and followed up with a letter hand delivered on Friday. There was no response, they said today.

"We've had enough," said the Rev. Laurie Wurm, of Grace Church Van Vorst.

Ed. note: The Rev. Thomas Murphy of St. Paul's in Bergen, Jersey City and the Rev. Laurie Wurm of Grace Church Van Vorst in Jersey City are among the leaders of Jersey City Together, a coalition of leaders from more than 30 Jersey City congregations focused on public safety, education, and housing and homelessness.