NEWARK — The police have opened a new station at perhaps the most bustling crossroads in the state's largest city.

The new “community policing” mini-precinct at the corner of Broad and Market streets will not only lower crime, but improve quality of life along the corridor, officials said.

Today city officials unveiled the new precinct, touting how open doors to the public - and even counselors available at the station - will improve communication and make the area safer.

“We work together to better the area and bring crime down,” said Capt. Felipe Gonzalez, the commander of the city police’s metro division.

The mini-precinct, which has been in operation since September, has already pushed crime down 17 percent in the metro area, said Samuel DeMaio, the city’s police director. The precinct will allow better coverage of the Ironbound section of the city’s East Ward, and also in the downtown area surrounding the Market and Broad intersection, he added.

The mini-precinct is the third to be built in the city over the last year. One was opened on Bergen Street in the South Ward last fall, and another on South Orange Avenue in the West Ward earlier this year, DeMaio said. The visibility of police in the target areas will help with deterrence, response times, and outreach, the police director said.

“It really is community policing as it’s supposed to be,” DeMaio said.

The city has a homeless population in the area – and their quality of life and safety is one of the concerns, added Anthony McMillan, the chief executive officer of the Newark Downtown District.

“There’s a huge social component to this,” he said.

“This is a genius of an idea,” added Mayor Cory Booker.

Some $175,000 was used to refurbish the formerly-empty Market Street storefront – money which was left over from a $10 million bond for a streetscape project in 2006, said McMillan.

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