FBI Crime Stats: Where Manchester And Lakehurst Stand

MANCHESTER, NJ — New FBI data shows crime decreased in the United States from 2017 to 2018. The FBI recently published its final analysis of “Crime in the United States, 2018,” finding the estimated number of violent crimes in the United States fell 3.9 percent compared to 2017. The property crime rate also dropped nearly 7 percent from 2017.

In Manchester and Lakehurst, however, there was an increase in both violent crimes and property crimes in 2018, according to the data in the FBI report.

The report, though, is a snapshot of only one year, and thus not an accurate indicator of larger sustained trends.

The nationwide drop in violent crime represents the second straight annual decrease after increases in 2015 and 2016. The FBI estimated there were 368.9 violent crimes for every 100,000 Americans last year.

Overall, robbery fell 12 percent from 2017, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter decreased by 6.2 percent, and aggravated assault dropped by a fraction of a percent.

Rape was the only violent crime to increase in 2018 from 2017. The FBI began to collect rape statistics under a revised definition in 2013, and the agency decided to stop reporting of rape data using the old definition in 2017. But to remain consistent with past reports, the 2018 update includes figures based on the former definition.

The new definition expands the meaning of rape to include additional forms of penetration of a victim’s body.

Some 139,380 cases of rape were reported under the revised definition in 2018, up from 135,666 in 2017. By comparison, some 101,151 cases of rape were reported under the legacy definition, up from 99,708 in 2017.

In Manchester and Lakehurst, the violent crime rates were lower than the national rate last year, but increased from 2017. Manchester reported 15 violent crimes in 2018, up from 11 in 2017. With a population of 42,939, Manchester had a rate of 34.9 crimes per 100,000 residents.

Lakehurst, population 2,672, reported 9 violent crimes in 2018 after reporting none in 2017. The 9 crimes equates to a rate of 336.8 per 100,000 residents. There were no murders in Lakehurst in 2018, and just one in Manchester. The national murder rate was 5.0 per 100,000 residents.

The FBI also estimated there were nearly 7.2 million property crimes across the United States in 2018. Property crimes include burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson, and all five of the categories saw a decrease from 2017.

In 2018, the FBI estimated there were 2,362.2 property crimes per 100,000 Americans nationwide, a decrease of 6.9 percent from the 2017 estimated rate. Manchester had a rate of 554.3 property crimes per 100,000 residents, reporting 238 property crimes in 2018. Lakehurst reported 30 property crimes, which equates to 1,122.8 per 100,000 residents.

Here are other notable findings:

For Manchester:

• Population: 42,939
• Robbery: 2
• Aggravated Assault: 11
• Burglary: 46
• Larceny-theft: 185
• Motor vehicle theft: 5

For Lakehurst:

• Population: 2,672
• Robbery: 3
• Aggravated Assault: 9
• Burglary: 4
• Larceny-theft: 25
• Motor vehicle theft: 1

Notable nationwide findings:

• There were more than 1.2 million violent crimes across the country.
• Law enforcement made an estimated 10.3 million arrests in 2018 (excluding traffic violations) which is a slight decrease from 2017.
• The juvenile arrest rate fell 11 percent in 2018 over the 2017 rate.
• Victims of property crime, excluding arson, lost an estimated $16.4 billion in 2018.

The data used in the “Crime in the United States, 2018” report was provided by more than 16,000 law enforcement agencies across the country.

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