The goal, according to the Essex County prosecutor’s office, was to send a message to young people about the stiff punishments for carjacking. During a carjacking epidemic in the 1990s, the maximum punishment for such crimes was raised to 30 years in prison.
“It’s been a serious problem for a long time and we’ve all been grappling with it,” said Katherine B. Carter, the spokeswoman for the Essex County prosecutor.
Mildred C. Crump, the president of the Newark Municipal Council, criticized law enforcement agencies for failing to devote enough resources to preventing carjackings rather than just prosecuting offenders after they commit a crime.
“I think the situation has reached its crisis,” she said. “We can no longer sit and hope that this will go away.”
One reason carjackings are resurgent is that many new cars have sophisticated anti-theft measures, including computerized ignition systems that make driving a vehicle without the keys nearly impossible.
“With better electronic car security, carjacking may be a more efficient way to obtain cars for sale or parts than the ‘traditional’ method of smashing car windows and hot-wiring the ignition,” Jeffrey A. Fagan, a criminologist at Columbia University, said.