State Police Release 2008 Uniform Crime Report

The state police released their 2008 Uniform Crime Report yesterday, showing a statewide 1 percent drop in violent crimes—defined as murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults—and a 3 percent increase in non-violent crimes, comprised of burglaries, larcenies and auto thefts.

In Essex County, there was a 2 percent increase in violent crime—attributable to a rise in burglaries from 2,551 in 2007 to 2,713 in 2008, since the number of murders actually dropped from 148 to 107—and a 6 percent decrease in the non-violent category.

In the category of violent crimes in 2008 in South Orange, there were two recorded murders (the case of a body dropped on a South Stanley Road lawn and the death of a 4-year-old boy in a Vose Avenue apartment), no rapes, 34 robberies and 13 assaults reported. In 2007, there were no murders or rapes, 31 robberies and 25 assaults. The overall crime index dropped from 449 to 414.

Since 1997, when the data from the Uniform Crime Report begins, South Orange's crime rate—obtained by dividing the raw crime numbers by a municipality's population and multiplying by 1,000—has dropped from 54.78 to 25.78. Maplewood's crime rate dropped from 51.96 to 23.01 in the same period.

Police Chief Jim Chelel attributed the reduction to the work of his officers, as well as collaboration with neighboring departments. He cited auto thefts as a major area in which crime had come down—in 1997, there were 311 reported cases, compared to 68 in 2008.

Editor's note: Thanks to Tom Pollard for compiling the data for South Orange, Maplewood, Millburn, Newark and the state of New Jersey into spreadsheet form. Click here to take a look.