Undercover Patrol Suspended After Fatal Branch Brook Park Shooting

Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 8:52am  |  COMMENTS (5)

Late yesterday, authorities suspended the undercover patrol effort in place when Defarra Gaymon, a former Montclair resident, was shot and killed at Branch Brook Park . Sheriff Armando Fontoura made the announcement, reports the Star Ledger, saying that there was a need to “make some adjustments.”
Fontoura added that in addition to temporarily suspending the patrol [part of a five-year-old undercover operation] to curb sex activity in the park, he is working with local gay rights activists to consider an alternate way to address the problem.
Although the undercover effort is suspended, uniformed police presence in the park will be increased. Fontoura also said there will be a full review of the operation.
Garden State Equality wrote a letter to Fontoura on 7/21 asking whether the undercover patrol was targeting gay or LGBT persons specifically and if so, asking that any such targeted operations be ended. Additionally Garden State Equality has requested documents related to previous lewdness arrests made at the park since 2005.

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5 Comments

  1. POSTED BY firedup  |  July 31, 2010 @ 9:22 am

    I’m glad to hear the undercover aspect is suspended. Who knows, Mr. Gaymon might have thought he was under attack by someone posing as an officer, thus the struggle. It’s not like people haven’t been set upon in that park before. The operation was a terrible idea. And there is no way Gaymon should have been shot, whether he was cruising or not. No excuse will ever justify the action. Now the officer who clearly panicked has to live with these terrible consequences, something that probably would have been avoided if he was wearing a uniform. Who cares if cruisers would be scared off by uniforms. Isn’t that what we want?

  2. POSTED BY Opinionated  |  July 31, 2010 @ 10:02 am

    We’ve been paying for an “undercover operation to curb sex activity in the park” for five years?!
    Yes, police should wear uniforms as they patrol, looking for (and preventing) illegal activity.

  3. POSTED BY monty  |  July 31, 2010 @ 10:58 am

    I agree with firedup that perhaps Mr. Gaymon did not realize that the undercover officer was in fact a “real” officer. In a moment of panic, anything can happen. We also do not know anything at all about what really happened in those critical split seconds and now only have one person in this equation still alive.
    If the Sheriffs dept. was only using this undercover operation to stop sexual activity in the public park, then why, after 5 years, is the sexual activity still going strong? Obviously, it is not a deterrent but it is a way to meet quotas for arrests and summonses.

  4. POSTED BY KatebirdRex  |  July 31, 2010 @ 11:54 am

    That’s an excellent point, monty. In all of the industries I’ve worked in, programs that don’t work wouldn’t be continued for 5 years. Why have we been paying for failure and an obviously dangerous situation?

  5. POSTED BY PeaceChampion  |  July 31, 2010 @ 6:35 pm

    Why did his article appear when I click on the “West Orange” button.
    Branch Brook Park is in Newark. The victim is a former Montclair resident. The law enforcement officer is with the County Sheriff’s Department.

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