10/24/2015 1 somerset county sheriff’s office personal safety tips for child support professionals...
TRANSCRIPT
04/21/231
Somerset County Sheriff’s OfficeSomerset County Sheriff’s OfficePersonal Safety Tips for Child Personal Safety Tips for Child
Support Professionals Support Professionals
Officer David SyringSomerset County Sheriff’s Office
20 Grove Street Somerville, NJ 08876
(908) 231-7140
04/21/232
Introduction Introduction
10 Years experience with Sheriff’s Office
Assigned to Administrative Division
Participated in numerous child support warrant roundups during tenure
Somerset County Sheriff’s OfficeSomerset County Sheriff’s OfficeHome to the President of Sheriff’s Association of
New JerseyAuthority to arrestCorrections—County Jail Administration Service of Process: summons, evictions, warrantsCourtroom SecurityPrison TransportMotor Vehicle InvestigationsSpecial Services: Gang & terrorism, school
resources, K-904/21/23
3
04/21/234
AgendaAgenda Overview
Knowing Your Population: NJ Gang Statistics
Common Reported Child Support Issues
Safety: 8 Steps For Dealing with Difficult Individuals
Somerset County Sheriff’s Office Warrant Arrest Statistics
04/21/235
Overview Overview
Understanding who the child support professional is engaging is crucial to the worker’s safety.
Having an understanding of the various dynamics of dealing with difficult people will greatly increase safety for child support case workers.
04/21/236
Gang Trends In New JerseyGang Trends In New JerseyNew Jersey State Police (NJSP) (2007, p. 3)New Jersey State Police (NJSP) (2007, p. 3)
04/21/237
Who’s Who and Where?Who’s Who and Where?NJSP (2007, p. 4)NJSP (2007, p. 4)
Five gangs are reported present in fifty or more of New Jersey municipalities:
Bloods (211 towns); Latin Kings (118); Crips (112); MS-13 (65),Pagans Motorcycle Club(57).
A sixth gang, Ñeta, is present in forty-six (46) municipalities statewide.
04/21/238
Who’s Who and Where? (Con’t)Who’s Who and Where? (Con’t)
The Bloods street gang was named by a large majority (87%) of municipal respondents
Reporting the presence of gangs. No other gang was named by more than half of the
municipalities with a gang presence.
04/21/239
Gang CharacteristicsGang CharacteristicsNJSP (2007, p. 5)NJSP (2007, p. 5)
Proportion of Municipalities with Gangs Reporting Presence of:
2004 Gang Survey 2007 Gang Survey
Bloods 58% 87%
MS-13 20% 27%
Ñeta 12% 19%
Most municipalities report gangs as ‘thin on the ground’
84% of municipalities report a gang size of fewer than 50 members or less
04/21/2310
Gang Characteristics (Con’t)Gang Characteristics (Con’t)
About 28% of municipalities that reported gangs have a ‘high-intensity’ gang presence.
Sixty towns have five or more of the ‘Top 14’ gangs, and roughly a dozen of these municipalities reported multiple gangs each with memberships of 100 or more.
04/21/2311
Common Gang CrimesCommon Gang CrimesNJSP (2007, p. 6)NJSP (2007, p. 6)
Assaults and aggravated assaults are the most common violent crimes reported.
Sexual assaults are relatively rare. Types of gang theft crimes reported tend to be ‘crimes
of opportunity’ or ‘impulse, rather than crimes requiring planning, resources or organization.
Drug crimes constitute almost half of all criminal activity attributed to gangs.
Retail sales of marijuana and cocaine make up the largest proportion of narcotics crimes attributed to gang members.
04/21/2312
Common Reported Child Support IssuesCommon Reported Child Support Issues
Dealing with individuals in our complex society has become increasingly challenging.
Individuals involved with child support are usually stressed about meeting their financial obligations
Some may be involved with gangs
Many will be young adults that are simply overwhelmed
04/21/2313
Safety: 8 Steps for Dealing with Difficult Safety: 8 Steps for Dealing with Difficult IndividualsIndividuals
DO NOT respond in kind. Hostility often begets hostility.
Take them seriously, have empathy, understand and validate their feelings. Use “I” messages.
Never argue with someone if they are intoxicated. CALL LOCAL AUTHORITIES
Respond to the feelings they are having; not the content of what they are saying.
04/21/2314
8 Steps (continued)8 Steps (continued) Don’t take things personally.
Allow angry individuals to physically escape the situation. If they need to be apprehended, call the police.
Don’t defend yourself by attacking back at them or their character flaws.
Don’t try to solve an emotional issue with logical arguments
(Fiore, 2011 ¶ 1)
04/21/2315
Somerset County Sheriff’s Office Somerset County Sheriff’s Office Child Support Warrant StatisticsChild Support Warrant StatisticsJanuary 1, 2010 - December 31, 2010
Four Hundred Eight Six (486) Processed
In FFY10, Somerset Sheriff’s Office collected $335k in child support
collections