Annex Irvington, NOW!

Tonite, Erica Turner was on CNN, talking to Anderson Cooper above the caption "UNANSWERED PLEAS FOR HELP". Erica Turner is the young woman who, with her daughter, was kidnapped April 11th by her estranged, deranged boyfriend (the child's father) and taken on a wild ride across nearly the entire width of the state, from Irvington almost to the Pennsylvania line, pursued by police all the way. There followed a hostage standoff that ended peaceably, but only after hours of negotiations. It was all over the news at the time.
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What I did not know is that a week earlier, Ms. Turner and her mother had placed 11 CALLS — ELEVEN! — to 911 because the same crazed boyfriend was at her door threatening to break in, but Irvington police sent NO ONE until THREE HOURS later!
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The tapes of some of those calls were played by CNN, and the 911 dispatcher is heard to say that there just is no one to send — 'I'm not lyin'. We don't have nobody.' Turner responds, in disgust and frustration, "So I'm just going to die. Thank you." The 911 dispatcher says, in the call in which she says she has no one to send, that Ms. Turner will have to take up with the Mayor (Wayne Smith) exactly why there are no police available. Right, Erica's supposed to contact the Mayor's office when there's a lunatic pounding on her door!
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Why isn't there some way automatically to call in Newark Police or the Essex County Sheriff, or South Orange or Maplewood or East Orange police, or the State Police, or SOMEBODY from some police force when a given municipality is overstrained? That should be automatic, built into the 911 system. It is inconceivable that every police force in the vicinity was overstrained on April 4th, an unexceptional day.
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Mayor Smith had heretofore impressed me as a young man with ambition for Irvington. Now I'm not so sure.
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Irvington is a MESS. It's time to annex Irvington to Newark, as the first stage in creating a Greater Newark by annexing the suburbs, starting with Irvington and East Orange, urbanized areas whose people could benefit mightily from inclusion in a larger, and better, city.
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Municipal consolidation is a fast track to urban greatness. It will capture attention and send the message that Newark is on the move.
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Once before, the idea of annexing the suburbs had been proposed, but the only area actually annexed was Vailsburg, the westernmost extension of Newark that I happen to live in, and which adjoins Irvington.
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Annexing Irvington and East Orange would put Newark's population above its all-time high in the 1950s, and give everyone in the enlarged city better public services, like police and fire protection.
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Irvington standing alone plainly cannot even protect its people from violent criminals pounding on their door. It's time for the people of Irvington to pound on Newark's door and shout, "Let us in!"