Montclair Crime Rate Remains Historically Low, New FBI Data Shows

MONTCLAIR, NJ — Montclair’s crime rates increased last year after dropping during the pandemic – but they remain historically low when compared to previous decades, new federal data shows.

The FBI released its latest Uniform Crime Reporting program results last week, including statistics for Montclair. In addition to data for 2022, the program now includes “trend reports” that analyze data going back nearly 40 years.

The agency cautions that the data isn’t an “exhaustive report” of all crime that takes place in a city or town, and police departments may have “differing levels of participation” over the years. The FBI also says that the data isn’t an effective way of comparing one municipality to another (some factors to consider include population size, economic conditions, employment rates, local judicial and prison policies, and the “effective strength” of the local police force).

The FBI data breaks down crimes by age, gender, race and ethnicity, as well as other factors such as location, the relationship of the suspect and the victim, and the type of weapon involved. Look up data for an individual town or city here.

VIOLENT CRIME IN MONTCLAIR

According to the FBI, the list of “violent crimes” includes homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

There were 44 violent crimes reported by the Montclair Police Department in 2022 – an increase from the levels seen during the pandemic (29 crimes in 2021, and 38 crimes in 2020).

However, Montclair’s violent crime total from 2022 was slightly lower than the year before the pandemic (58 crimes in 2019). And it was significantly below the totals seen about a decade ago (73 crimes in 2013).

There are 39,821 people living in Montclair as of last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

When viewed on a longer-term basis, the difference is even starker, according to the FBI data. There were 104 violent crimes reported in Montclair in 1985. That number rose to a high of 275 in 1994, the data shows.

PROPERTY CRIME IN MONTCLAIR

In addition to violent crime, the data shows that Montclair also saw hundreds of property crimes reported last year, including burglaries, larceny-theft and stolen vehicles.

According to the FBI, there were 440 property crimes reported in Montclair in 2022 – up from 298 crimes in 2021, and 267 crimes in 2020.

Montclair’s property crime total from 2022 was slightly lower than the years before the pandemic (476 in 2019, and 502 in 2018). And it was significantly below the totals seen a decade ago (680 crimes in 2012).

Montclair’s property crime trends are also a big improvement from those seen over the past four decades, including a high of 2,391 in 1993, the data shows.

VIOLENT CRIME IN NEW JERSEY

Some of the trends seen in Montclair have also been seen on the state level.

In New Jersey, 543 of 578 law enforcement agencies submitted data for the latest round of the UCR program. Read More: Latest Violent, Property Crime Data For NJ Released By FBI

The state’s violent crime rate was 202.9 per 100,000 people last year: up from 183.5 in 2021. However, New Jersey remains well below the national violent crime rate of 380.7 per 100,000 people (which decreased 1.7 percent from 2021).

Despite the uptick in 2022, New Jersey has been seeing historically low rates of violent crime over the past decade, the FBI data shows.

Earlier this year, a new study ranked New Jersey as the “safest” in the nation for violent crime, citing data from the FBI’s Summary Reporting System and National Incident-Based Reporting System. Read More: NJ Is 'Safest' State In Nation For Violent Crime, New Study Says

The study pointed to two big factors that seemed to help New Jersey score the top spot: gun control and police reform.

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