The sarcasm in the comment is uncalled for. Grow up. My two cents.

There is a particularly high occurrence of quality of life crimes taking place behind Starbucks and I believe that the WPD is aware of that. This has been something that has been going on for years. If the kids are not breaking any laws then let them be, but if they are they should be held responsible for their actions, no matter where in town they are. I don't believe they add to the town's "character" but the situation has vastly improved from where it was several years ago. I believe the real issue area is now in front of Qdoba. There are often teenagers loitering outside the restaurant with bikes and skateboards (which are not allowed on downtown sidewalks), smoking cigarettes, yelling profanities, making out, etc. I would definitely like to see the management of that venue step up and have the kids move along and if all else fails, I think there should be a better police foot patrol presence downtown.

you can no longer have a loitering law in NJ:

Why are loitering laws illegal in New Jersey?

Fortunately, loitering ordinances are, except in a few narrow cases, invalid in New Jersey because the Legislature, when enacting the Criminal Code in 1979, specifically decided to not include those types of prohibitions within the Code out of concern that “vagrancy and loitering statutes have long suffered from constitutional infirmity and have been criticized as inviting official harassment and discriminatory enforcement.” See State v. Crawley, 90 N.J. 241, 247 (1982). It follows, therefore, that no municipality is allowed to locally prohibit loitering and vagrancy when the Legislature has decided to decriminalize them. Id. at 251.

http://www.lpcnj.org/OGTF/Loiter.html

behind starbucks is a very sketchy place. i know kids that do drugs back there and literally sleep there over night

There is clearly a "No Loitering" sign posted back there. Westfield Police Department, please enforce.

we should have some westfield police atleast walking around downtown on occasion especially behind starbucks

The loitering has been going on for years- but i think the issue is what kids are allowed to loiter. Back in 2006-2007, I know of a group of males that were minority and would hang out back there, PD would bring them in and call the parents due to their "loitering". I guess wearing black eyeliner and black trench makes it acceptable. I feel it is intimidating to walk through that lot, with young adults standing in the street, leaning against cars, just hanging out, when you have spent money at the theatre or a store, It should not be tolerated.

I also feel the town needs to enforce the drivers who refuse to stop in crosswalks for pedestrians and those who talk on the cell while driving, Honestly, you cant go through town without seeing at least 3 or more soccer moms talking on their cells while driving. And how about the cars that refuse to stop in the am in front of the armory on Rahway ave- to let students cross. Cant we get an officer out there in Sept?

completely agree with everything you said jersey girl

Note to Henry Hershey, what makes you think that all the people loitering are Westfield residents?

There is definitely a 'no loitering' sign back there - personally I have never seen it enforced. Also - I have gone to my car after an appointment downtown and had four people leaning on my car - I had to ask them to move, and they did, but one stared at me and blew cigarette smoke in my face. When I got home, I realized that they had been extinguishing cigarette butts on my car door. I have stopped using that lot in the evening hours and if I can't get a street spot, I park behind Barons. Also, the owner of Galleria West (the framing place which used to be where Anthology is now) told me that the reason for his move to Quimby was because of the repeated vandalism to the back of his store and his morning ritual of having to clean back there. It is a quality of life issue - the original letter is absolutely correct - Westfielders are proud of their town, proud of their downtown but the back of Starbucks is our dirty little secret. I have heard hearsay of worse offenses taking place back there - but I have not seen them first hand. What I have witnessed firsthand - the disrespect for people and property needs to be addressed. It seems like if the no-loitering sign is actually referencing an ordinance, the police can get involved. Also - I think Starbucks would have something to say - but I have seen some of their employees are part of that group. We were all teenagers once, and we all "hung out" somewhere, but these kids are incredibly disrespectful.

The Downtown Westfield Corporation (DWC) needs to supplement the hiring of a police officer to patrol this area at night as they did years ago. The police department has approximately 9 less police officers now as it did then and can no longer spread its authority to these types of quality of life issues. Many of these kids hanging out behind Starbucks are from adjacent communities and come to Westfield because the police in their town do not tolerate their delinquency nor do they have a "downtown" as Westfield does.

excellent post Mocha, it raises the question as to why hasn't the DWC hasn't been previously involved if all that has been posted is true, which there is no reason to doubt that it is.

I think another issue, could be, not what you know but who you know. No one really cares until they are personally effected.
I shouldnt feel weird about picking up my pre teen daughter behind the theatre, near Windmill, after a movie in the evening and have to deal with a group of 20 somethings in the parking lot near starbucks. That shouldnt be allowed and i dont think Garwood would put up with it.

@ South Westfielder -
These are not juveniles. Some of them look to be in their mid-20s. Sure, maybe their parents could have done a better job bringing them up, but these are grown ups we are talking about.

As often as I have been in town, I can say that I have seen ages from 12-18, maybe 19. Mid-20's? I don't think so. Maybe they looked like they were that old, but there are more happenin' places than the back of Starbucks for people that old.