LEPRECON 2018: Hoboken Police Stats Are In

(ABOVE: Kurt Gardiner photo)

***UPDATED to include press statements from Mayor Bhalla and Chief Ferrante—12:15 p.m., March 5***

Here are the stats from Hoboken’s LepreCon 2018:

• 386 calls for service (down from 488 last year)
• 23 individuals transported to the hospital (down from 28)
• 4 arrests (down from 11)
• 37 summonses (up from 31)

Arrests were 1)Aggravated Assault of a State ABC Investigator & Resisting Arrest, 23 yr old M from Ridgefield Park. 2) Disorderly Conduct & Resisting Arrest, 24 yr old M from Pearl River, NY. 3) Aggravated Assault, 23 yr old M from Paramus. 4) DWI, 24 yr old F from East Brunswick

— Chief Ken Ferrante (@KenFerrante) March 4, 2018

Other highlights included one clown who jumped into the Hudson off of Pier C. This is why Hoboken can’t have nice things…

Kurt Gardiner photo

As for the business end, by and large the downtown bars were reportedly steady. Although some bars were busier than others…

Fights are breaking out with our unruly customers! #LepreCon pic.twitter.com/YQlkm5n1Wo

— Cork City Pub (@corkcitynj) March 3, 2018

But all bars were on top of their game:

Thank you to Hoboken bar owners for being 100% compliant with @HobokenFire code inspections yesterday. No violations were issued.

— Hoboken Fire Dept (@HobokenFire) March 4, 2018

“After receiving a final report from Police Chief Ferrante and based on my observations during the day, I am pleased that there was a clear improvement in quality of life and safety throughout the city,” said Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla. “I thank the bar owners and hospitality industry for working to make this a dramatically safer event and look forward to a collaborative relationship moving forward. Thanks to the cooperation of the Public Safety Task Force, law enforcement, and the hospitality industry, we have delivered on the promise I made to improve public safety and quality of life during these ‘con’ events. Thank you to the Hoboken Police Department, Fire Department, Office of Emergency Management, Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Parking Utility, and Environmental Services, and the police departments from North Bergen, Union City, Secaucus, Stevens, NJ Transit, Port Authority, and Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office for working together to ensure a safe event.”

“In my 25 years of policing in Hoboken, this was the calmest I have ever seen the first Saturday of March,” said Police Chief Ken Ferrante. “I am glad that no officers were injured during the event, and I thank Mayor Bhalla for supporting our officers and taking steps to ensure everyone’s safety. I further want to thank all of our Hoboken PD officer who admirably handled the long day and long hours, and I want them to know how proud I am of how they have handled the challenges of the past few months and this past weekend.”

Hopefully we can find a way forward from this, turning this perennial event into more of a positive.

Kurt Gardiner Photo