Crime Trending Down in Manchester in 2013

A year after Manchester Township saw an 11-percent jump in crime, mostly because of a spike in burglaries and attempted burglaries, overall crime is trending down in the township, according to unofficial statistics released by the New Jersey State Police.

Total crimes between January and August this year are down just over 45 percent, according to unofficial statistics, driven primarily by a reversal in the trend in burglaries.

While there were a total of 110 burglaries, attempted burglaries and illegal entries reported in that period in 2012, it’s down to just 36 between January and August of this year.

There are also downward trends in thefts and all forms of assault—just 108 thefts were reported through August of this year, as opposed to 171.

The only two categories with an increase were motor vehicle thefts—there have been two so far this year, one more than in 2012—and robberies, where a total of four have been reported in 2013, after none a year ago.

All the current-year and 2012 statistics are considered unofficial by the State Police, which typically releases its Uniform Crime report for the previous year some time in the following fall.