Monday - Friday
8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
973-635-0674
54 Fairmount Avenue
Chatham, NJ 07928
A Letter from Mayor Carolyn Dempsey on Recent Crime in Chatham Borough
Dear Neighbors,
This past week has brought news of two alarming home burglaries and thefts, one involving an occupied residence (fifth since April 2023) and one involving an unoccupied residence (third since April 2023). This has left us all feeling unsettled and unsafe. The feeling of being safe in our own homes is one of our basic needs as a community and when that safety feels compromised, we must ensure that we are deploying every measure possible to address this. When unlocked cars with fobs inside were being stolen, the police took action and we residents cooperated with law enforcement by locking cars and removing keys which worked to bring down thefts dramatically. Now criminals have gone to another shocking level, and our police department, with the support of the Chatham Borough governing body, administration, and fellow residents, is taking swift action to find those responsible for these frightening acts and prevent further break-ins. Safety is our number one priority and we are doing everything in our power to address this recent threat such as:
- Our CBPD is increasing police presence throughout the borough with overtime, reassignments, CBPD special enforcement details and details involving surrounding municipalities. They are also employing new technologies, working with neighboring towns, Morris County, the state and even federal authorities on intel, investigations, and operations.
- Chief Gibbons and members of our CBPD will be at our regular Council meeting on January 22 to provide an overview of the situation, law enforcement response, and preventative measures.
- A joint Zoom meeting with Chief Gibbons and Chief Miller of Chatham Township will be held for the public to provide more details as well as lay out some of the resources available for crime prevention and response. Residents will have the opportunity to ask questions in both forums.
- I have asked the Chief what additional support his department needs from the Mayor and Council. He has made some immediate requests and said he will be adding to those requests with more detail in the near future.
In addition, remember to sign up for SMART911 on our borough website, www.chathamborough.org, in order to receive alerts from our CBPD. Please make sure you select “Crime Alert Opt-In” if you would like more immediate information on criminal activity. It is important that we, as residents, follow the precautions from our CBPD in order to aid and enhance the efforts of our police. We are in this together. Especially at a moment like this, Chatham is fortunate to have such an outstanding police department that is working around the clock and devoting considerable resources in response to these, and to prevent further incidents. They have my full confidence.
We are a wonderful community and we will weather this storm. As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns at
Warmest regards,
Carolyn Dempsey
Mayor, Borough of Chatham