Crime In Brick Fell In 2015, FBI Report Shows

Brick, NJ — The number of violent crimes and property crimes in Brick Township decreased in 2015, continuing a trend of decreasing crime in the township, according to data released by the FBI on Monday.

The information comes from the FBI’s annual report Crime in the United States. This publication, which 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.

In 2015, Brick Township police reported 76 violent crimes in 2015, a 14.6 percent decrease from the 2014 total of 89, according to the reports. Property crimes in the township, meanwhile, dropped more than 20 percent, from 1,169 in 2014 to 930 in 2015, according to the report.

The township's decrease in violent crimes bucks the national trend, which the FBI said showed a 3.9 percent increase in violent crime in 2015. Property crimes decreased by 2.6 percent nationally, the FBI said.

The FBI's Uniform Crime Report program collects information on crimes reported by law enforcement agencies regarding the violent crimes of murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, as well as the property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

In Brick, violent crimes have decreased 24 percent since 2011, when the township reported 100 violent crimes. The 76 reported for 2015 is the first decrease since 2012, when the number dropped to 81. In 2013, the number of violent crimes in Brick rose to 89, and the same number was reported in 2014, according to the FBI reports. Robberies fell dramatically, from 27 in 2014 to just nine in 2015. Aggravated assaults decreased only slightly, from 59 in 2014 to 55 in 2015, and for the first time in two years there were no murders or manslaughter cases reported in Brick.

One aspect of violent crime in the township that has risen is rape. The FBI report shows 12 rapes were reported in Brick in 2015. That increase in part reflects a change in the way agencies report rape. In 2013, the FBI said, the definition of rape was revised to apply it to anyone, not just females, and to cover any penetration — oral, vaginal or anal — committed without consent of the victim.

Brick reported just two rapes in 2014 under the old definition of rape, which was "The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will," according to the FBI.

Property crimes in Brick have fallen every year since 2011, according to FBI crime reports. Larcenies and thefts, which make up the bulk of the property crimes, had climbed in 2014 to 941 from 911 reported in 2013. But in 2015 the number of larcenies and thefts tumbled to 770, an 18.1 percent decrease. Burglaries fell 28.7 percent, from 202 in 2014 to 144 in 2015. Motor vehicle thefts, which the FBI said have risen nationally, fell from 26 in 2014 to 16 in 2015, according to the FBI reports.

Nationally, the FBI said the 2015 statistics show the estimated rate of violent crime was 372.6 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, and the property crime rate was 2,487.0 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. The crime report also discusses arrests, but does not break that information down to the local level.

Brick's population is listed at 76,097, an increase of 102 residents over 2014 and an increase of 775 residents since 2011, according to the FBI reports, and the township had 131 full-time law enforcement officers in 2015, according to the data.

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