Less than two months after the Trenton Police Department earned accreditation from the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police (NJSACOP) in June 2026, Mayor W. Reed Gusciora imposed a curfew requiring businesses along a section of East State Street to close overnight following a series of violent incidents, including a fatal shooting near City Hall.
Executive Order 26-001 requires businesses on East State Street between West Canal Street and South Broad Street to close from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. on weekends. The restrictions took effect Friday, Aug. 7, and run from Friday night through Monday morning.
City officials said the measure is intended to curb late-night disturbances and improve public safety in the downtown entertainment district.
As Gusciora heads into a potentially contentious battle for his third four-year term in the November election, amid a growing field of challengers, his administration is sending mixed signals, including claims that police officers meet high professional standards as .
“In the last few months, multiple acts of violence have been carried out in this area during these late-night weekend hours,” Gusciora said in announcing the order. “This action is a necessary step to help ensure the safety of Trenton residents and protect our community.”
The order followed an Aug. 2 shooting along the affected stretch of East State Street that killed a 32-year-old Ewing man and wounded another person.
Police responded shortly after 3:30 a.m. to reports of a large disturbance and gunfire in the 300 block of East State Street. Officers found Jemear Miller suffering from a gunshot wound to the neck.
Miller was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
A second man arrived at the hospital in a private vehicle with a gunshot wound that authorities said was not life-threatening.
No arrests have been announced, and the Mercer County Homicide Task Force and Trenton police are investigating.
The shooting occurred near City Hall and NJ Weedman’s Joint, a cannabis dispensary and lounge operated by longtime activist Ed Forchion.
Forchion has publicly blamed Gusciora and the city for failing to provide sufficient police protection in the entertainment district. He has argued that the city should control crowds and violence through increased policing rather than forcing businesses to close.
Gusciora, meanwhile, has pointed to late-night gatherings in the area as a threat to public safety and said the city would increase community policing and reconsider operating hours in the district.
Forchion, who owns NJ Weedman’s Joint, said, “For nearly two years he has refused to provide police protection to my venue, watched as chaos ensued, and as a result the criminal element in town knew the mayor had created a ‘POLICE FREE KILL ZONE‘ in front of city hall at night … and twice it was successfully used. Both times he then tried to blame me!!”
The dispute comes amid continuing scrutiny of the Trenton Police Department.
A U.S. Department of Justice investigation concluded in November 2024 that Trenton police had engaged in a pattern or practice of using excessive force and conducting stops, searches and arrests without reasonable suspicion or probable cause. Federal investigators recommended 26 changes to department policies and training.
The administration of President Donald Trump later withdrew those recommendations.
Gusciora’s administration paid NJSACOP $5,000 for its accreditation evaluation of the Trenton Police Department.
In a scathing November 2024 report, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that the Trenton Police Department had engaged in a five-year “pattern or practice of misconduct that deprives people of their rights under the Fourth Amendment.”
“The overall mentality has not changed,” since the Justice Department’s 45-page report, said defense attorney Robin Kay Lord. “The police believe that they’re above the law and that they have the right to do basically whatever they want.”
The number of incidents when Trenton officers used force on civilians dropped 32%, in 2025 compared with 2024, but a 19-month CBS News investigation found those force numbers have rebounded.
According to data from the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Trenton officers reported more use-of-force incidents during the first six months of 2026 than during the same period in 2025, at a rate on pace with 2024.
Trenton officials claim the department has undergone major changes, but it’s still the same one where an officer shot Jajuan Henderson four times as he sat in his parked car, leaving him paralyzed, and where a 64-year-old man died after being pepper-sprayed and slammed to the ground.
It received accreditation from the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police in June, and Gusciora has said the city implemented many of the reforms recommended by federal investigators.
Police Director Steve Wilson said use-of-force incidents declined 32% from 2024 to 2025. However, state data showed officers reported more use-of-force incidents during the first six months of 2026 than during the same period in 2025, with incidents occurring at a pace similar to 2024.
Criminal defense attorney Robin Lord, who was interviewed during the federal investigation, has also argued that civil rights violations remain a problem.
The city said the East State Street curfew is part of a broader public safety initiative that includes increased police and parking enforcement, additional cleanup and anti-dumping efforts, and proposed changes to municipal ordinances addressing disruptive activity.
The curfew is temporary, but city officials have not announced a date for lifting it. Officials said conditions in the area will be monitored as the restrictions remain in effect.
Anyone with information about Miller’s killing is asked to contact Mercer County Homicide Task Force Detective Elijah Phillips at 609-414-2006.
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