KENILWORTH, NJ — The Kenilworth Police Department recently hosted Coffee with a Cop at the Kenilworth Senior Center. Topics of discussion included crimes affecting the community, scams targeted at seniors, traffic issues and other police-related topics. Forty-five people showed up and refreshments were served.
Lt. Ed Paster said, “The chief did a great job putting this together. We always had a great bond with the seniors.”
Coffee with a Cop was run by Chief Paul Campanelli for several years, but was put on the shelf due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But now, Campanelli says, he has the meetings as often as he can “to offer seniors information.”
Some of the scams targeted at seniors are phony calls from the IRS. “All scams,” said Campanelli, “they primarily targeted the elderly. Their (the elderly) hearts are huge.”
Campanelli grew up in Kenilworth and still lives in the borough. “We do this for them (seniors) to have the ability to not be afraid to call the police,” he said. “I’m very approachable. I’m very easily accessible. I do my best for the community. Don’t be afraid to approach us with questions. Be alert. The criminals have gotten a lot smarter.”
Detective Sgt. Brian Pickton has been an officer in Kenilworth for 21 years. He said, “We have a lot of scams. They prey on the elderly. They’ll get your identity, open up credit cards in your name. Just use common sense. Any time you get the gut feeling, trust your gut.”
Lt. Mike Scanielo added that another scam is the police department calling and asking for money, people alleging to be from law enforcement.
Campanelli spoke about the “No Knock Policy” for solicitors, which prohibits solicitors from contacting residents with a decal on their door or window.
“Notify us as it happens,” said Campanelli.
The next topic discussed was the road work and detours in Kenilworth.
“Certain things are out of our control,” said Campanelli. “The Boulevard now is full of potholes. I live in Kenilworth. Hopefully, by Christmastime, the Boulevard will be completely done. It’s very difficult when you’re dealing with utility companies. We’re doing what we can.”
Another issue was both pedestrians and drivers disobeying traffic laws.
“This area is so congested. They don’t stop for us in uniform,” said Campanelli. “They don’t talk (about) basic safety in schools. We’re working on it.”
He assured that the Kenilworth Police Department will be doing Bicycle Rodeos in the spring to teach children safety.
“Understand, we are a small department with only so much manpower,” said Campanelli. “We do what we can with what we have. We need to have new officers. We are limited. We are two officers short. We’re wearing many hats. We need to increase our police department size. Traffic enforcement and parking is the biggest complaint we have in town.”
An audience member asked, “As residents, what can we do for the police officers to have more manpower?”
Campanelli said, “Go to Town Council meetings, say you want more police officers. If you can’t go to sleep at night with a good conscience, that bothers me.”
An audience member said, “We didn’t need the new track (at the high school). The money should have gone to police officers.”
Senior Program Director of the Kenilworth Senior Center, Shirley Maxwell, said, “I’d like to thank Chief Campanelli and Kenilworth’s finest for being here. We thank them for all they do, risking their lives for keeping us safe.”
To learn more about the Kenilworth Police Department, visit: https://www.kenilworthborough.com/186/Police-Department.
Photos by Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta