There's not a lot going on crime-wise in the Valley District, according to West Orange Police Chief James Abbott.

"It's been pretty quiet in the Valley," he said during the Valley Community Watch meeting at Hazel Elementary School Monday night.

Mayor Robert Parisi was also on hand to answer questions and said though crime in the Valley has not raised much concern, there are still sporadic instances of motor vehicle break-ins. "A lot of what we've experienced, short of the homicide, are a lot of these petty, motor vehicle, home break-ins — always a crime of opportunity with unlocked doors."

Parisi told Patch that though motor-vehicle break-ins are "way down" from six months ago, it's "the only thing that's popping up."

Abbott said most of the break-ins were happening with unlocked cars and urged residents to remove valuables from plain sight and lock their doors.

As winter approaches, Parisi said residents should exercise further caution. "It gets a little chilly in the mornings so (residents) start their cars, go back inside to finish breakfast and those are the cars that are stolen," he said.

Few residents turned out for the monthly meeting but expressed concerns about the drug paraphernalia found on school property over the summer; traffic and parking in the area; and whether police were ticketing vehicles.

"Usually when we have meetings with a tremendous amount of people, it's because something is going on, so this is a good way to say to us, things are quiet, are nice and we have nothing to complain about," said Juan Pintado, chairperson of the Valley Community Watch.

Parisi said police were doing all they could to keep the area safe. "We're always doing enforcement," he said, adding that police were issuing traffic tickets. "You can't be on every corner, every time, but we are trying."

He also said several arrests were made shortly after the drug paraphernalia was found on the school's playground and asked residents to report any additional findings to the police.

Though the past couple months have been "quiet" in the Valley, Abbott said crime in general has been on the rise. "It's definitely up, but it's up everywhere," he told Patch.

He said the department was "doing it's best," and despite the layoffs in March, were maintaining the same amount of officers on the streets. "Really our support staff is what's suffering, with less supervisors, less people inside doing administrative tasks … that's where the impact's been."