Crime in Rumson and Fair Haven Compared to Neighboring Towns

Rumson and Fair Haven residents can easily compare how their municipalities' crime rates in 2011 compared to neighboring towns with an interactive map created by NJ Spotlight.

The map plots the total crime rate per 1,000 people for seven index crimes (violent crimes include murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, and non-violent crimes are burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft) using data from the recently released 2011 Uniform Crime Report.

Rumson and Fair Haven's rates were less than half those of neighboring Sea Bright and Red Bank as well as the rates of Monmouth County and New Jersey as a whole.

The crime rate per 1,000 was a considerably low 11.9 in Rumson and 8.5 in Fair Haven, with populations of roughly 7,000 and 6,000 each, respectively. Fair Haven employed 12 police officers in its department in 2011 and Rumson had 19 officers. Little Silver had a rate close to that of Fair Haven's at 8.4.

Neighboring Sea Bright had a substantially higher rate of 28.3 crimes per 1,000 of its roughly 1,500 residents (according to the 2010 census). There were 12 police officers in Sea Bright in 2011, according to the interactive map.

Red Bank's crime rate per 1,000 residents was 26.2 in 2011, slightly higher than Monmouth's 23.7 and the state's 24.7. Shrewsbury Borough fared worse, registering a 35.7 crime rate per 1,000 residents in 2011.

Middletown, however, had a rate of 13.2 per 1,000 of its roughly 67,000 residents, closer to Rumson's 11.9. Middletown had 127 officers in it's department in 2011, according to the map.

Eatontown had the highest crime rate per 1,000 residents in 2011 among nearby municipalities, with 40.4 victims per 1,000 residents. Red Bank was on par with Long Branch's rate of 26.2 and Tinton Fall's rate of 26.0 while being below West Long Branch's 32.1.

As required by statute, all law enforcement agencies in the state submit monthly and annual summary crime reports to the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, under the NJ State Police.

The statistics in the Uniform Crime Report are based on reported crimes only. Information about 2012 will be released in December 2013.