Larceny, Car Theft Rose In East Brunswick In Past 2 Years

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — On Monday, East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen gave his annual State of the Township address.

He said that while East Brunswick has not seen an increase in violent crime in the past six years, there have been increases in 2022/23 in three categories of crime:

• Larceny (shoplifting, stealing a bike or stealing motor vehicle parts, such as catalytic converter thefts, defined as theft where force is not used.)
• Identity theft
• Car theft, which is part of a statewide trend that all of New Jersey has experienced in the past two years.

"Despite public opinion polls, our crime statistics do not show any increase in violent crime," said the mayor. "Areas of concern are not unique to East Brunswick and include rises in larceny (attributed mostly to our Rt. 18 business corridor), forgery and counterfeiting (primarily identity theft) and auto theft."

Auto theft peaked in New Jersey in 2022 and has since gone down. East Brunswick's crime stats mirror the statewide trend: 40 car thefts were reported in 2022, and 26 in 2023.

He also provided some statistics about the East Brunswick Police Department:

In 2023, the Patrol Section logged more than 70,000 calls for service, an average of 192 calls/day.

East Brunswick Police use a drone program, where a drone is used in evidence recovery, suspect search, crowd and traffic control.

East Brunswick Police Det. Brian Adams, the school resource officer at East Brunswick High School, started a "Clean Slate" program for first-time juvenile offenders. This allows teenagers, if they have been arrested for the first time, the change to get back on track without being dragged through the criminal justice system.

Community Police Sgt. Paul Jun started the Community Response Unit, which is a drug-addiction/intervention program: Instead of criminally prosecuting people charged with drug crimes, East Brunswick Police now work with the courts, addiction counselors, attorneys and the Middlesex County Prosecutor's office to help those addicted get the help they need outside of the criminal justice and prison system.

Body worn cameras are now worn by all East Brunswick Police, and police administration began a tracking log for easy video requests, should the need arise.

Watch Mayor Cohen's address Monday night, Feb. 12: