Strategy To Fight Rising Gun Violence In Trenton Announced Same Day Officers Are Shot

By Kim Glovas

TRENTON, N.J., (CBS) - It had been planned, but a two pronged initiative announced Thursday by the New Jersey State Attorney General's office to fight rising violence in Trenton, came on the same day as a police-involved shooting.

Attorney General John Hoffman says Trenton is on pace to break it's murder record, and that was the catalyst for the initiatives.

"The war zone conditions that we see in this city, that break out hearts, are intolerable," said Hoffman.

He explains the first initiative.

"Place uniformed officers, state police officers on the streets of Trenton to help suppress gun violence and father intelligence and data, to foment long term investigations that will have positive, long term results," said Hoffman.

The second initiative will target those who carry weapons in public, and increases prison time for possession to 3-and-a-half years, up from the current one year. There have been 29 murders in Trenton this year, up from last year's total of 24.