Witness "protection" in New Jersey

NY Times:

The strategy sounds almost illogical: Detectives in New Jersey are being urged to build criminal cases with as few witnesses as possible. Or with none at all.

In cities struggling with gang-related crimes, like Trenton and Newark, detectives said that even on the infrequent occasions when they find civilian witnesses who might be willing to testify, investigators are wary about pressuring them to appear in court. That reluctance is based on a fear that the authorities might not be able to protect witnesses from retaliation.

In the New Jersey State Police gang unit, the approach is so common that detectives have made hundreds of cases during the past five years, but used civilian testimony fewer than a dozen times, investigators said.

Even Gov. Jon S. Corzine has directed police agencies in the state to use witnesses more sparingly in cases involving street gangs.

Detective Sgt. Ronald Hampton of the State Police, who has worked in the gang unit since 2002, said the testimony of civilian witnesses was considered evidence of last resort.

“It used to be that when someone gave information, the first words out of a detective’s mouth were, ‘Are you willing to testify to that?’” Detective Hampton said.

But no more.

“If you push someone and they agree to testify, now they’re your responsibility,” he said. “You’ve got to keep them from disappearing or getting hurt. Can we protect them? Maybe. But God forbid that two years later you have to tell someone their husband or father got killed. I don’t want to have to live with that.”

No one much disputes that the strategy amounts to something of a retreat for law enforcement in New Jersey.

...

And in August 2006, when Trenton detectives found a minor drug dealer who was willing to help them secretly record conversations with a gang leader suspected of running a major heroin ring and ordering the murder or a rival, they turned down the offer.

Detective Daniel Pagnotta, the lead investigator in that case, said the gang leader had such a reputation for violence, and the options available to relocate the witness were so limited, that it was simply too risky. The police instead set up a sting operation that led to the arrest of the gang leader on narcotics charges.

They have not charged him in connection with the killing.

“We knew we could have gotten evidence to link him to the murder,” said Detective Pagnotta, who retired in June. “But it was pretty obvious that if we did, our witness would end up dead. So we took what we could get.”

...

This is evidence that the rule of law is under assault by the gangs and that the police are not equipped to fight them effectively. The gang leaders have become war lords who make up their own rules. The police need to take a RICO approach to dealing with these gangs and put them out of business.