MAYS LANDING—The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Tuesday announced that it has joined more than 350 law enforcement agencies from across the country and globe in receiving certification as a partner in Safe Place.
Safe Place is a law enforcement initiative that promotes safety, provides training, education, and most importantly, supports victims and targets of biased incidents and hate crimes that take place in Atlantic County.
Safe Place was introduced in 2015 by the Seattle Police Department. It has been established in other New Jersey counties such as Cape May, Monmouth, and Middlesex and extends nationwide and even to Canada and Europe. Through the program, law enforcement agencies provide willing businesses and other places of public accommodation with small decals on the front window near the entrance.
The goal is to promote safety and address bias incidents and/or crimes based upon race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, disability and/or marital status.
Bias and hate crimes and incidents are statistically underreported, often due to victim fear and apprehension about their complaint being disregarded.
When ACPO’s Safe Place is utilized, individuals looking for assistance will be treated with care, dignity, and respect from participating organizations, and most importantly, from responding police departments. Research has shown that with the Safe Place initiative, bias crime reports have increased in Safe Place-certified areas, demonstrating that victims feel more comfortable coming forward.
Led by the office’s County Law Enforcement LGBTQ+ Liaison, Det. Caryn Campanelli, ACPO has begun soliciting the partnerships of police, the community, and local businesses that are committed to making Atlantic County a safer place for all to visit and reside.
Participation is free, and no members are asked to place themselves or others in danger. Training and information is provided including a simple procedure in place for the staff to follow. Eligible businesses include banks, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, clinics, stores, and certain staffed public access buildings.
Participation requires that businesses display the sticker and train their team to do two things:
1. If a victim of any crime, especially a hate crime, enters your premises, call 911 immediately.
2. Allow the victim to remain on your premises until police arrive. If the victim leaves prior to police arrival, call back to 911 and provide a physical description of the victim and/or suspect(s), direction of travel, and any injuries that may have been observed.
Any business interested in registering as an Atlantic County Safe Place may fill out the application at the link below. From there, a member of the ACPO community outreach team will contact you to schedule a meeting to greet you, welcome you to the initiative, deliver an ACPO Safe Place window decal and welcome packet.
“Pride Month is an appropriate time for ACPO and law enforcement everywhere to stand against hate and discrimination of any kind, against any person,” Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds said. “The Safe Place decal signals to the public that that there is no place for hatred our communities, and that anyone feeling threatened based on who they are is welcome at that establishment.”
