TRENTON — The Monday after Trenton experienced four homicides in a single weekend, acting Attorney General John Hoffman had a 6:30 a.m. phone conversation with State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes.

The killings had included a double murder on East State Street that left 52-year-old Barry Church dead after he was caught in the crossfire, a 20-year-old shot in the head and a fatal stabbing.

Gun violence in the capital city had become a virtual daily occurrence. It was the death on Aug. 3 of Church, an innocent bystander sitting on a porch just a block away from his home, which struck a chord with the state’s two top law enforcement officials.

“The first thing we said to each other was, ‘That’s enough,’” Hoffman said of his conversation with Fuentes.

Together they decided to fast-track efforts already in the works to send more state troopers into Trenton to aid the city’s police force, down 140 positions following mass layoffs nearly two years ago.

New Jersey State Police tactical troopers during early-morning operations on Spring Street near Calhoun Street yesterday.

“The colonel said, ‘I’m getting my people in there now,’” Hoffman said yesterday afternoon during a news conference at the Hughes Justice Complex.

Before dawn yesterday, more than 60 state troopers, sheriff’s officers and federal agents descended on Trenton for a warrant sweep that ended with 15 fugitives in handcuffs, Hoffman said.

It was the leading edge of a new, stepped-up deployment of the State Police in the capital city to combat surging violent and gun crime that has left 29 people dead and more than 150 people shot in 2013. The effort is being paired with a new directive from the attorney general’s office that makes harsher prison sentences for gun crimes mandatory, even in the cases of plea bargains.

“Most of the purchasers for drugs are coming from the suburban parts of our county,” she said.

Hoffman said the State Police deployment focused on crime regionwide.

“Hamilton is in, Ewing is in, all of Mercer County is in,” he said.

“I have a problem if they can go after the dealers but not the ones who are buying,” she said later.

From his City Hall office during a briefing with reporters, Mayor Tony Mack endorsed the State Police-led plan.

“It’s certainly a step in the right direction, and we appreciate that,” Mack said.

Before the attorney general’s news conference, city council members gathered in front of Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton where the wounded detectives were being treated.

“We can’t tolerate this,” said George Muschal, city council president. “The city council’s here for support, but we’re no longer tolerant. We’re going to try do our best, whatever we can do, to stop the violence in the city of Trenton. It’s out of control.”

“Everybody’s doing the best they can,” Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson said. “We all have to come together, come to the table and say, ‘Okay, we need to act now.’ I don’t know what the answer is but I think we need to be very serious about that. And to think, this is the capital city. My God, legislators. Pay attention.”

“Ideas mean nothing,” Hoffman said. “This is all about results, because results mean lives. If we do not produce results, people will continue to die.”

Staff writers Jenna Pizzi and Mike Davis contributed to this report. Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.

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