Chief asks for public’s help after officers attacked responding to NJ brawl

PAULSBORO — It was a scary situation for police officers who responded to a fight in the town on Saturday.

Chief Vernon Marino said officers from other surrounding towns also responded to the scene which he said consisted of mostly "young adults and juveniles."

"Officers were quickly surrounded and assaulted by a very large crowd while attempting to arrest those involved," the chief said.

While some arrests were made at the scene Marino said there are more arrests and charges pending as officers were wearing body cameras at the time.

"Fortunately, with the aid of the body worn cameras our officers will now have the ability to identify those who were fighting and those that failed to disperse when ordered to do so," he said.

Marino said the department will increase patrols in the near future and asked for the public's help in identifying people who were involved in the incident.

"Parents need to speak with their children and explain that what they are doing is harmful to each other not to mention destructive to the neighborhoods."

While the body cameras worn by the officers will help identify more people involved in the incident, another group of cameras also caught the chief's attention.

"While it's your right to video tape and place on social media people at their worse or the ugliness of fights it's these same videos that continue to stereotype a town and its residents," he said of amateur video taken of the incident. "It is simply irresponsible to post these incidents; doing so only helps to drive copycats wanting their 3 seconds of air time while eroding the core values of this town and its hard working, law abiding citizens."

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Contact reporter Adam Hochron at 609-359-5326 or Adam.Hochron@townsquaremedia.com