Crime Declined from 2008 to 2009

With less township police employees, crime still managed to dip from 2008 to 2009, according to the state Uniform Crime Report.

The Uniform Crime Report is based on crime statistics submitted to the New Jersey Uniform Crime Reporting System by every state law enforcement agency. According to the report, both violent and non-violent crime dropped slightly from 2008 to 2009–2,449 reported crimes in 2008 compared with 997 in 2009--with the overall crime rate dropping from 24.5 to 21.1 per 1,000 residents.

The drop is despite a 2009 force that had more than 100 less employees than it did in the previous year. According to the report, 2008's force had 235 employees, with 184 male officers, five female officers and 46 civilians. In 2009, the department had 114 employees, 83 male officers, four female officers and 27 civilian officers.

In 2009, the number of reported violent crimes, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assaults, was 52, down from 237 the previous year. That represents a decrease of 2.4 incidents per 1,000 residents to 1.1 per 1,000.

According to the report, reported violent crimes in 2009 included one murder, six rapes, 21 robberies and 24 aggravated assaults. That's a significant decrease from 2008, which saw one murder, six rapes, 83 robberies and 147 aggravated assaults.

In addition, non-violent crimes, which include burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson, domestic violence and bias crime, dropped from 2,212 in 2008 to 945 in 2009. That represents a decrease of 22.1 incidents per 1,000 residents to 20 per 1,000.

According to the report, non-violent crimes in 2009 included 125 burglaries, 793 larcenies, 27 motor vehicle thefts, six reports of arson, 159 incidents of domestic violence and 16 incidents of bias crimes. In 2008, there were 448 burglaries, 1,593 larcenies, 171 motor vehicle thefts, five reports of arson, 306 cases of domestic violence and four bias crimes.