Bias Crimes Up In NJ Last Year, 16 Reported In Edison & 6 In Metuchen

EDISON, NJ — State officials reported an increase in bias crimes across New Jersey last year, including Middlesex County. In 2021, Edison reported 16 bias crimes and Metuchen reported 6, according to a recent report released by the Attorney General's office. The exact nature of the crimes was not detailed in the report.

State officials said last year saw a significant increase in reported hate crimes across New Jersey including Middlesex County. Overall, the County reported 185 cases of bias incidents in 2021. In the year prior, the county reported 149 bias incidents.

Meanwhile, people reported 1,871 bias incidents to law enforcement throughout New Jersey in 2021 — a record high, which the attorney general's office attributes to several potential reasons.

The 29 percent increase from 2020 likely reflects a combination of improvements in the process for reporting hate crimes, community outreach and other developments linked to a rise in hate crimes and bias offenses nationwide, officials said.

"Better reporting is only part of the explanation," the attorney general's office said in a news release. "After analyzing data from 2019 to 2020, the Division on Civil Rights links the increase in reported bias incidents during that period with multiple social and political factors. They include the COVID-19 pandemic, backlash against the Black Lives Matter protest movement that grew from the murder of George Floyd, and racialized rhetoric around the 2020 election."

According to the preliminary data released by the state, anti-Black and anti-Jewish bias were the most common race- and religion-based motivations for reported bias incidents in 2021, as in past years.

Anti-Black bias was cited as a motivation for 686 reported bias incidents in 2020 and 877 reported bias incidents in 2021 — representing 39 percent of all reported motivations in both years. Anti-Jewish bias was cited as a motivation for 298 reported incidents in 2020 and 347 reported bias incidents in 2021 – representing 17 percent of all reported motivations in 2020 and 15 percent of all reported motivations in 2021.

The preliminary data also shows an increase in reported bias incidents against Asian people — 129 in 2021, an 87 percent increase from the 69 reports the prior year.

Additionally, the state office tallied 373 reported bias incidents against LGBTQ people last year — a 64 percent increase after 227 were reported in 2020.

Here are the bias-incident reports that Middlesex County law-enforcement agencies received in 2021, according to the AG's office:

• Carteret: 1
• Cranbury: 3
• Dunellen: 1
• East Brunswick: 31
• Edison: 16
• Highland Park: 7
• Metuchen: 6
• Middlesex Boro: 4
• Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office: 1
• Monroe: 13
• New Brunswick: 30
• Old Bridge: 8
• Piscataway: 10
• Plainsboro: 4
• Rutgers University: 18
• Sayreville: 7
• South Amboy: 1
• South Brunswick: 10
• South Plainfield: 3
• South River: 1
• Spotswood: 1
• Woodbridge: 9

Specific information on incidents in each county or town was not immediately available. To see New Jersey's bias report for 2021, click here.