To all- My son (8) and myself ( single mother), have been in the community of Abington for 4 years…read morecoming from Texas. we love the area. Recently, in the last year or so my son has told me about a cop friend of his, Officer Dan P. (Will not say his last name fo obvious reasons). i asked him how he knows this officer and he told me that the officer has on several occasions given him a "cool kid patrol ride" after his school activities, typically him and friends play at the park until 630 or so (short distance from the house). Recently his behavior has been reclusive and tempered, when confronted stated "Officer Dan is not who I thought he was, and he no longer thinks of him as a hero as Dan would call himself. Should I escalate this?

Beautiful building for a police department in the middle of the municipal building and the…read morecourthouse. Great guys in this department. Hosted a beef and beer fundraiser for one of their own who developed ALS. We won luxury suite tickets to the flyers game tonight!

I love this building. It used to house the library, and I like to think that you can still smell…read moreit. The lobby brings me back- with the slanted sunshine and quiet echoes. I miss Willingboro. When you go in, you have to relinquish your ID. I think. No big deal. The permit people are fantastic. Hey, nobody wants to shell out money for anything, but such is life. One woman almost made me cry. She showed so much compassion to me that it struck me: I did not even know her, and she was so sweet in a sea of people who had robotic emotions or no empathy. (I am not special, but everyone deserves basic respect.) And the tax peeps- they never tired of answering questions. They were a big help. They were nice, both in person and on the phone. I almost forgot that I got married in this building. I had on a crown of rose leaves, and a teen library patron seemed struck by that. Afterwards, my dad told my husband to "take care of his baby." The police are in this building. No misbehaving. They will drag you into court. You can park across the street if there are no spaces left. The lots are tiny. The schoolhouse is still there. I hope it always will be.

Such a cool tour, even though it's only available on weekdays. The building is the largest in the…read moreUS, and they offer a regular tours and tower tours. Do both! Why not? Our building tour guide was Marc was terrific, very knowledgeable about the building and history behind the city. The architecture is beautiful, so it was great learning more behind the symbolism. We also went through the government chambers into areas where civilians don't usually go. It's pretty thorough and covers a lot of ground, so be prepared to get in your steps. The tower tour is separate, but it's worth going up to see a view of the city and the bottom of the giant William Penn statue. This doesn't take too long, but our guide let us stay as long as we liked to get the 360 degree view. She recommended some sights to visit and identified buildings on the skyline. The elevator felt a little rickety but the view is worth it. If you're in town on on a weekday non-holiday, plan a visit but book a tour in advance. It sells out, and it's worth it.

I've got a feeling I'm developing agoraphobia as I age (complicated by cataracts) because I never…read moreused to hesitate about taking long, long "road trips" to places I had never been before, or was unfamiliar with if I had been, and now...I'm very much hesitant. Philadelphia is just 1 example of that. My oldest friend has been living there for several years (his main residence is in Florida) and he keeps inviting me down. i did go down there to visit him once (I wrote a review of the Liberty Bell as a result of that visit) but I was nervous all the time I was there and couldn't wait to leave before dark. It hasn't helped that "Parking Wars" became a thing on TV at the time agoraphobia began developing in me. I had never worried about parking in Philly in the past, but I was (am) now! As a kid, the cities I was familiar with were NYC, Paterson, Newark, Hackensack. Philly was unknown to me; it might as well have been in another country. The 1st time I went was with a friend who needed to get his passport there in order to travel to Italy (not really sure what that was all about, but I was willing to take a train ride with him down). I found the Reading Terminal Market colorful, we went to a bookstore or 2, and we ate dinner at a Northern Italian restaurant (different from the Southern Italian restaurants I was used to). Nothing so astoundingly attractive that I felt an irresistable urge to return any time soon. A few years later, 2 friends wanted to ride down there, and... once again...I tagged along. Some vibrant nightlife (and a "porno area" that seemed smaller and less sordid than what Times Square in NYC was offering at the time), but...again...the appeal of the city was basically lost on me. A few years later, I wanted to search out 2 cemeteries that were in that general vicinity. One...Holy Cross in Yeadon...I wrote a review about. Another...Union Hill Cemetery in Kennett Square, about a half hour south of Philly...had the grave of actress Linda Darnell and introduced me to the Baldwin Book Barn, which I also wrote about on Yelp. That area around Kennett Square had a lasting appeal for me but Philly still had no concomitant allure. Still...gradually...incrementally...I ventured more and more into the city on my own, even though I never became very familiar or comfortable with it. I'd park near City Hall and walk down to the Bellevue Hotel, which had a Rizzoli bookstore in it. I also visited some other used book stores (the names escape me now). Sometimes I'd stop for a quick visit to the city while on my way to Kennett Square. A few times, I went with friends. At 1 point, I dated a young woman in a West Philly suburb, but we spent most of our time in the Brandywine Valley, not Philly. Some scattered impressions remain with me. I remember seeing 1 of the "Hellraiser" movies at an old theater in Philly. This series of films, while somewhat original and appealingly Lovecraftian, were very violent and bloody. I remember seeing a couple at the movie with their 5 year old child, and thinking to myself, "Who would bring a kid to see a movie like this? No wonder there are psychos in the world." Another time, a (late) friend and I were drinking in the city. We passed an alleyway, and at the end of it were 2 rats, an animal I'm terrified of. We stared at the rats from our end, and they stared back at us. Suddenly, they started bolting towards us. We turned and ran hard. Either the rats lost interest or were out of shape, because they didn't catch us. I heard a story from a paternal biological relative about a cousin who lived in Lyndhurst, NJ. This cousin was a severe alcoholic and made an heroic recovery before cancer felled him (we were able to establish a relationship before he died and I was at his funeral). This relative said the cousin called him once after a binge and had no idea where he had awakened or how he had gotten there (he didn't drive or have a car). It was some city street, foreign to him. The relative asked him to read off a few street signs and was able to finally determine that the cousin had somehow gotten from north NJ to Philly while in a drunken blackout. just a few days ago, I was talking to my oldest friend, who moved out of Philly and is living in South Jersey with his girlfriend until he can move everything down to Florida. He ventured back into Philly to take care of some business and was accosted by a homeless woman, who began yelling semi-coherent abuse at him. My friend has a kind heart, and normally would fork over money, but he didn't this time. I haven't been to a major city in years, and I expressed surprise. He said, "Are you kidding? There's homeless people all over Philly.' It's historic, obviously, and...in its own unique way.... beautiful. Supposedly, it always had a "2nd best" syndrome in comparison to NYC and I certainly get that. But, speaking subjectively, I never really warmed to it, and can take it or leave it alone. Faint praise indeed, but it's how I feel.

Yay, Toms River Police Department. Thank you for laying your lives on the line every day to keep…read moreus safe. Rah. You guys are the best. Okay, now that the cheerleading session is over, this place is a dump. Yes, it's under construction, but trying to make silk purses out of sows ears is pure folly. My goal is to never come here again, and certainly not to become a regular or (gasp) The Duke. Toms River Township Police were very efficient at writing me a summons for careless driving, as well as friendly and helpful when it came to receiving the payment I made under slight duress. I could hardly have asked more from them. They are at the top of their game, and I highly recommend them for any of your motor vehicle violation needs.

Like Newark, Camden fascinates me with it's tragic turnout going from industrial powerhouse to…read moreimpoverished and dead. Both overshadowed by 2 major U. S. cities (Philly and NYC). I always think about if and how these cities can come back. Beyond the poverty, crime and abandoned, hollowed out buildings there is life in Camden. Came for the Aquarium which was awesome, but I wouldn't be opposed to coming back to seeing the USS New Jersey BB 62 battleship. One of the 3 Rutgers campuses is here and seems to have fair bit of enrollment despite Camdens noteriety and from what I understand things are slowly looking up with a record low in homicide rate in 30 years. Also I think it's awesome that Campbell's soups Co. established in1869 to present is headquartered in Camden. They could've moved but nope. Still there. Camden like so many big cities may have gone down, but it's important we know the histories and events that have brought them there.

So you wanna come to Camden? Or no? Yes? No? OK, yes you wanna come. So Comeden!…read more Camden is one of the poorest cities in North America. In parts of town, it seems like more than half of the houses have been abandoned, boarded up, or even destroyed and leveled to the ground. It reminds me of Kosovo or Iraq on the news after the war. Yes, it looks like that, in places. It's also a city with a lot of heart. You can forget the crime stats, the murder rate and the folklore, when you see the kids playing, or try the food at one of the little corner cafes, and see glitzy shiny comparatively rich Philly across the bridge, across the river. It hurts me that in the richest country in the world, we should have cities that look like this. And people that have to live like this. And so many deluded, ignorant, brainwashed people in this country that will tell you, with some kind of feigned authority, that it's because they are lazy, or make bad decisions. Being born into Camden isn't a decision. It's reality. And there's often no way out. Cities like this are a blot on the copybook of freedom and democracy. The people that talk all that bull**** about Camden are people that have never been to Camden, have never met the people of Camden, and would rather just tell ghost stories and cautionary tales about it. It's a wonderful place, and scores 4 for potential, heart, fight, spirit, and life. One day, it will be a 5. Until that day, we should all take a long hard look at ourselves and our society.

For those of you who don't know downtown Trenton, NJ, the Richard J. Hughes Justice Center is the…read morehuge glass and steel turtle that sits at the bottom of Market Street next to Route 29 at the Delaware River. It looks like it belongs in a Transformers movie and is about to become unmoored, ambulate and jump into the river. When designed, the architect was likely riffing on the pace of justice in this state. Accurate, but it was also the place where I was employed for several years by the Office of the Public Advocate, and where I had oral argument before the Appellate Division and the Supreme Court of New Jersey on occasion. So, I am familiar with the structure and have mixed memories of my time there early in my legal career. Security was tight getting in, as it must be. Once passed the suspicious eyes and scanners, the long escalator ascent to the courts and offices always gave me mild vertigo looking down into the expansive lobby. It took a week before I found the cafeteria, and longer than that to locate the right elevator to the underground parking garage. I wasn't allowed to park there anyway because of my low rank and poor design, but it was nice to know in case of emergency. While the offices were pretty utilitarian, the higher courts were quite elegant and impressive in a courtly way - always slightly intimidating, but no doubt designed to bring out the best in those who labored there on behalf of our clients great and small. Worked for me. I never lost a case on my feet in those hallowed halls. Same can't be said for the multitude of commitment hearings undertaken on behalf of our mental health clients vacationing in the various institutions around the state. Sometimes the "least restrictive alternative" meant a long sojourn in the big house, where concepts of timeliness and constitutional protections were lost in the haze of potential dangerousness. Still, we all pushed as far as we could to find something that would benefit our clients, even if it meant more visits to the commissary for snacks or smokes. Was justice served in this temple of jurisprudence? Depends on the day and time. We had our victories and our setbacks, but always had the sense that we were playing our part in helping both our clients and the public at large be as safe as humanly and legally possible. Sometimes a delicate balance. Always had to hope the judge cared as much as we did.

This building is pretty cool to work at. There is a Dunkin Donuts and a cafeteria on the first…read morefloor and ample parking if you get there early enough. The view from the sixth floor facing the river is pretty nice. Lots of opportunities for lunch nearby. The elevators are generally in working condition and security is nice if you are properly credentialed. Sometimes the men's bathrooms can get a bit dirty, and fire alarms are especially unpleasant. Three stars.

Above and beyond the call of duty.I have lived in New Jersey over 3 decades,and this is the best…read morePolice Department in the state.Whether its 3pm,or 3 am,our officers respond promptly,and professionally.Our neighborhood is safe and secure because of them. We are blessed by God to have them.

I work at the mall and the Freehold Twp police come in all the time as customers. They are always a…read morepleasure to deal with. Our loss prevention associate tells me that they are one of the best departments he's dealt with and he's worked with. Even stayed with my elderly grandmother on 9/11 until we got home when we couldn't reach her due to the phones being down.

The address is tricky. You have to turn left onto Hancock as the Parole Board is tucked behind…read moreTrenton Street. Good luck!