2016 FBI Crime Report: Thefts, Burglaries Slightly Increase In Basking Ridge

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Property crimes — thefts and burglaries — slightly increased in Bernards Township in 2016, while violent crimes declined, according to data released by the FBI on Monday.

The information comes from the FBI’s annual report Crime in the United States. The publication is a statistical compilation of offense, arrest, and police employee data reported by law enforcement agencies voluntarily participating in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, according to the FBI.

Violent crimes in Basking Ridge — robberies, aggravated assault, rape, murder and manslaughter — continue to decline overall to 0 total in 2016, according to the reports. That is down from 3 reported in 2015 and 6 were reported in 2014.

In 2015, the violent crimes broke down to 1 rape, 1 robbery and 1 aggravated assault versus in 2014 with 4 rapes, 1 robbery and 1 aggravated assault.

Watch: Violent Crime In The US Increased For The 2nd Year In A Row Last Year

Property crimes on the other hand slightly increased in Basking Ridge for larcenies, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts.

There were 94 property crimes total reported in 2016, up slightly from 88 in 2015. Thefts and larcenies, which make up the bulk of the property crimes, rose slightly from 70 in 2015 to 79 in 2016. There were 104 thefts/larcenies reported in 2014, according to FBI data.

Burglaries, fell from 33 in 2014 to 15 in 2015 and continued to fall to 7 in 2016.

Motor vehicle thefts rose slightly from 4 in 2014 to 3 in 2015 to 8 in 2016, according to the data.

Nationally, the FBI said the 2016 statistics showed an increase in the estimated number of violent crimes, with a 4.1 percent rise when compared with 2015 data. Nationally, property crimes dropped 1.3 percent.

The 2016 statistics show the estimated rate of violent crime was 386.3 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants nationally, and the estimated rate of property crime was 2,450.7 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. The violent crime rate rose 3.4 percent compared with the 2015 rate, and the property crime rate declined 2.0 percent.

Bernards Township's population for 2016 is listed at 27,024, according to the report, an increase of 128 residents from 2015.

The UCR Program report for 2016 included information from 16,782 agencies across the country, out of 18,481 city, county, university and college, state, tribal, and federal agencies eligible to participate, the FBI said.

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