Northeast
Atlantic City fatal stabbings ignite calls for increased surveillance in gambling resorts
- On New Year’s Day in Atlantic City, one man died after being fatally stabbed, while another man was found bleeding to death near the Boardwalk.
- The city has been addressing concerns about public safety by implementing a $5 million state-financed program to install additional security cameras.
- The recent deaths follow a trend of increased major crimes in 2023 compared to the previous year, including a rise in homicides.
One man was fatally stabbed while another was found bleeding to death on New Year’s Day in Atlantic City, the gambling resort that’s currently adding hundreds of new security cameras to the thousands already keeping an electric eye on this busy tourist destination.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said police responded to a 911 call at 6:15 a.m. Monday of a man found bleeding on a street near the beach who later died at a hospital. Little more than an hour later, police got a second 911 call about a 22-year-old man was pronounced dead from multiple stab wounds near the Boardwalk.
The deaths do not appear to be related, and no arrests had been made as of Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. But it is cases like these that have raised calls for new cameras amid heightened demands for increased public security in a gambling resort visited by 27 million people a year.
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In October, the city announced a $5 million state-financed program to install 200 cameras with five independent lenses apiece throughout city neighborhoods. Police Chief James Sarkos says that’s akin to deploying 1,000 new cameras to supplement the 3,000 public and private ones already up and running.
A video monitor inside the surveillance center of the Atlantic City, N.J., police department on Nov. 16, 2023, shows a video recording of the beginning of a fire outside Resorts casino a day earlier. The city plans to add hundreds of additional security cameras to the 3,000 that already keep an electronic eye on the seaside gambling resort. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
While not enough to cover every inch of the 48-block city, the overwhelming majority of Atlantic City will be covered once the project is completed later this year.
Yet the stakes are high for a resort dependent on tourists and their money; if gamblers, vacationers and others don’t feel safe in Atlantic City, they’ll go elsewhere.
“Public safety is extremely important in Atlantic City,” said Sarkos, who called the cameras “a force multiplier” that extends the reach of officers into spots where they’re not physically present. “It’s a huge investment in public safety, and it’s going to make Atlantic City safer for everybody.”
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Neither city police nor the county prosecutor’s office would say whether the network of existing cameras on and near the Boardwalk and on neighborhood streets captured any images that might aid the investigation into the two New Year’s deaths.
A Nov. 7 homicide near Boardwalk Hall also remains unsolved. Authorities also wouldn’t say whether an outdoor security camera mounted on a nearby building yielded anything useful in that investigation.
Statistics provided by the police department show several categories of major crime increased in 2023 compared with the previous year. From Jan. 1 through Nov. 26, there were seven homicides in Atlantic City, compared with six over the same period a year earlier. Aggravated assaults rose from 317 in 2022 to 355 last year, and robberies from 189 to 194 over that same period.
City and state officials have worked hard to address widely held concerns about public safety in Atlantic City, investing millions.
But Associated Press interviews conducted before the latest deaths show that changing perceptions will not happen overnight.
“I don’t believe Atlantic City is safe,” said Leonard Hall of Mullica Hill, New Jersey. “Safe is being able to walk around without your life in increased danger. I’m for more cameras, but that’s not going to stop criminals. Some people say they had a fine experience but that doesn’t take away from the stabbings, shootings, thefts, or assaults that have happened to others.”
However, Ed Jessup of Brooklyn, New York, said he feels safe walking around in Atlantic City, and not just on the Boardwalk.
“I’ve shopped at the outlets, went to dinner and felt fine,” he said. “You just have to be aware of your surroundings after dark.”
Police in Las Vegas, whose population of 646,000 people is 17 times larger than that of Atlantic City and which has more than six times as many casinos, would not discuss that city’s use of security cameras other than to say technology plays an important part in public safety.
Jeff Behm, an Atlantic City resident, called the cameras “a great idea that can only help.”
“Parts of Atlantic City feel safe, but most places do not after dark,” he said. “Of course, if they catch the criminals but they’re back on the streets the next day, the cameras won’t help much.”
Amy Jackson of York, Pennsylvania, said the cameras make her feel safer.
“We might want to advertise that AC has cameras, so think twice before committing a crime,” she said.
The city has had cameras on its Boardwalk since 2016.
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They have not only helped solve numerous crimes, including a near-fatal stabbing, a burglary, and a purse-snatching, but also found lost children and elderly visitors who wandered off. They even thwarted a bogus injury claim in which a man saw a slightly raised board on the walkway, laid down next to it, and called for help, saying he had tripped on it, fallen and injured himself, said Lt. Kevin Fair.
The new cameras, as well as most existing ones, are monitored in real time by a surveillance unit at police headquarters, staffed by retired police officers. Incoming calls for help can be quickly linked to camera feeds showing the area from which the call came, allowing officers to see what is happening before they even arrive.
Though the cameras do not use facial recognition, they can swiftly glean information describing a suspect such as their color of clothing, shoes — or a vehicle associated with a crime.
Private businesses, including the nine casinos, can quickly and easily share their own camera feeds with police when needed, Sarkos added.
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Northeast
Man with machete shot and killed by police, who then find 3 more dead inside home: officials
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Officials in Piscataway, New Jersey, noted Tuesday that an individual with a machete was shot and killed by police, who then found the subject’s mother and grandparents dead inside a home, WABC reported.
Piscataway Mayor Brian Wahler noted that the suspect’s father dialed 911, the outlet noted.
When authorities arrived at the home, the man had a machete, authorities said, according to the outlet. Authorities attempted to utilize tasers against the man but indicated it did not stop the suspect, WABC noted.
He allegedly charged at law enforcement officers with the weapon, and they opened fire and killed him, the outlet reported.
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Authorities with the Piscataway Police Department responded to a 911 call about someone with a knife. (Kyle Mazza/UNF News/Shutterstock)
After the shooting, police found three people dead in the home, a press release from the New Jersey attorney general’s office notes.
“The Office of Public Integrity and Accountability is investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred on Monday, January 5, 2026, in Piscataway Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey,” the release states.
Preliminary information indicated that authorities with the Piscataway Police Department had responded to a 911 call from someone who reported a person with a knife, the release indicates.
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Police shot a man armed with a knife Jan. 5, 2026, in New Jersey. (Kyle Mazza/UNF News/Shutterstock)
“Officers subsequently shot and killed a man armed with a knife who they encountered at the residence,” the press release noted.
“A 2019 law … requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved,” the release explains.
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Law enforcement shot a person armed with a knife in New Jersey. (Kyle Mazza/UNF News/Shutterstock)
According to a post on X, New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association President Peter Andreyev noted, “We are aware of the horrific crime in Middlesex County tonight. All our members that were involved are being evaluated. Thank you to all who have reached to offer support.”
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Boston, MA
Battenfeld: Michelle Wu should demand better security after Boston Medical Center rape
In the middle of Michelle Wu’s orchestrated inaugural celebration, prosecutors described a senseless hospital horror that unfolded at Boston Medical Center – a rape of a partially paralyzed patient allegedly by a mentally ill man allowed to freely roam the hospital’s hallways.
It happened in September in what is supposed to be a safe haven but too often is a dangerous campus. Drug addicts with needles frequently openly camp in front of the hospital, and in early December a security guard suffered serious injuries in a stabbing on the BMC campus. The alleged assailant was finally subdued by other security guards after a struggle.
In the September incident, prosecutors described in court this week how the 55-year-old alleged rapist Barry Howze worked his way under the terrified victim’s bed in the BMC emergency room and sexually assaulted her.
“This assault was brutal and brazen, and occurred in a place where people go for help,” Suffolk County prosecutor Kate Fraiman said. “Due to her partial paralysis, she could not reach her phone, which was under her body at the time.”
Howze, who reportedly has a history of violent offenses and mental illness, was able to flee the scene but was arrested two days later at the hospital when he tried to obtain a visitor’s pass and was recognized by security. Howze’s attorney blamed hospital staff for allowing him the opportunity to commit the crime and some city councilors are demanding answers.
“This was a horrific and violent sexual assault on a defenseless patient,” Councilor Ed Flynn said. “The safety and security of patients and staff at the hospital can’t be ignored any longer. The hospital leadership must make immediate and major changes and upgrades to their security department.”
Flynn also sent a letter to BMC CEO Alastair Bell questioning how the assailant was allowed to commit the rape.
Where is Wu? She was too busy celebrating herself with a weeklong inaugural of her second term to deal with the rape at the medical center, which is near the center of drug-ravaged Mass and Cass.
If the rape had happened at a suburban hospital, people would be demanding investigations and accountability.
But in Boston, Wu takes credit for running the “safest major city in the country” while often ignoring crimes.
Wu should intervene and demand better security and safety for the staff and patients at BMC.
Although the hospital is no longer run by the city, it has a historic connection with City Hall. It is used by Boston residents, many of them poor and disabled or from marginalized communities. She should be out front like Flynn demanding accountability from the hospital.
Boston Medical Center, located in the city’s South End, is the largest “safety-net” hospital in New England. It is partially overseen by the Boston Public Health Commission, whose members are appointed by the mayor.
BMC was formed in 1996 by the Thomas Menino administration as a merger between the city-owned Boston City Hospital, which first opened in 1864, and Boston University Medical Center.
Menino called the merger “the most important thing I will do as mayor.”
When he was appointed CEO by the hospital board of trustees in 2023, Bell offered recycled Wu-speak to talk about how BMC was trying to “reshape” how the hospital delivers health care.
“The way we think about the health of our patients and members extends beyond traditional medicine to environmental sustainability and issues such as housing, food insecurity, and economic mobility, as we study the root causes of health inequities and empower all of our patients and communities to thrive,” Bell said.
But the hospital has been plagued by security issues in the last few years, and a contract dispute with the nurses’ union. The nurses at BMC’s Brighton campus authorized a three-day strike late last year over management demands to cut staffing and retirement benefits.
Kirsten Ransom, BMC Brighton RN and Massachusetts Nurses Association co-chair, said, “This vote sends a clear message that our members are united in our commitment to make a stand for our patients, our community and our professional integrity in the wake of this blatant effort to balance BMC’s budget on the backs of those who have the greatest impact on the safety of the patients and the future success of this facility.”
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