Copping a Secure View with Hiked Police Presence at KaBoom! Fireworks

In addition to your fireworks viewing pleasure, there will be a security spectacle during the KaBoom! Festival on the Navesink River this weekend: cops on every downtown corner, checkpoints for bag and cooler searching, and even a paddy wagon for would-be troublemakers.

A response to public outcry following a fireworks show marred by several incidents of fighting and underage drinking, Red Bank’s Police Department joined forces with police representatives from Middletown and several other surrounding towns and law enforcement affiliations, at the behest of borough and KaBoom! Committee officials, to ramp up police presence and stricter enforcement throughout the popular event.

When KaBoom! met with the borough to discuss planning for this year’s fireworks show, one of the goals was to foster a greater feeling of community and a more family-friendly atmosphere. In addition to enacting a zero-tolerance policy and charging spectators for prime viewing spots at Riverside Gardens — a move that officials say will raise money and also attract families —  it became clear that police had to be more visible in a crowd estimated at more than 100,000.

Red Bank Police Capt. Darren McConnell said the department is bolstering its ranks by hiring a number of officers from nearby towns for one-day or weekend special duty detail. Though he declined to say exactly how many officers will join with the Red Bank crew, he said the increase in police on the street from last year will be approximately 20 percent.

Police will be stationed throughout downtown and on foot patrol, on bike patrol, on motorcycles, and in cruisers, he said. The key to McConnell is visibility. If police can be a more visible presence, he believes it should act as a deterrent.

“Partially we’re out there to avoid problems, but also to send a message that this is still a very family-oriented event,” he said. “Last year it was more or less isolated incidents, but the more there are the more obvious they become, the small number of people causing problems become attention grabbers.

“When you’re talking about an event attracting 150,000 people, making 20 or 30 arrests is a very small percentage but you do hear about them.”

The isolated incidents, McConnell said, have to do mostly with fighting and drinking among underage visitors — the fighting and drinking not being mutually exclusive. Since the fireworks show is a no-alcohol affair, police will be checking backpacks and coolers at viewing locations.

  With a new and more uniform policy in place, police will also be taking a more hard-lined stance against disorderly behavior. Red Bank Council voted on a zero-tolerance police earlier this month that will see violators pay maximum fines for incidences that, Mayor Pat Menna said, represent anti-social behavior.

“In previous years it’s been issue a warning and send them away,” McConnell said. “This year there will be far less warnings. Every year we tweak our plan a little bit and this has been building for the past couple of years.”