Bias Crime Reports Increase Again In Morris County, State Data Shows

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — State officials tallied an increase in the number of hate and bias incidents reported in Morris County last year, after a slight decrease in 2022. Anti-Black and antisemitic incidents were the most commonly reported, data shows.

Last week, the OAG launched a Bias Incident Dashboard, which includes data on cities and towns around the state. The dashboard reflects reported incidents from the beginning of 2019 through January of this year. It does not reflect how many people were involved in the reported incident.

Local police reported 98 suspected or confirmed bias incidents around Morris County in 2021, 84 incidents in 2022, and 90 incidents in 2023, per data from the state Office of the Attorney General. And there have been 15 bias incidents reported in the first two months of 2024.

The data is designed to help New Jersey and its communities to combat hate and discrimination, officials said.

"By sharing this information broadly and consistently, we can more readily understand how bias impacts our communities and work to improve how we address the problem of bias together," said Dr. Kristin Golden, chief data officer of the state's Office of Justice Data.

Bias incidents include acts of intimidation that are motivated by a victim's race, gender, religion or other protected characteristics of identity, under New Jersey state law.

Offenses can include criminal acts and other forms of discrimination.

Officials cite multiple reasons for increase

The communities with the most reported bias incidents in 2023 were Mount Olive Township (13), Randolph Township (12), and Rockaway Township (11), the data shows.

Data from the AG's office shows no incidents at all have been reported in six Morris County communities since 2019, when the state required law enforcement to report confirmed or suspected bias incidents. Those communities are Boonton Township, Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mine Hill Township, Mount Arlington Borough, and Victory Gardens Borough.

Meanwhile, 2,211 bias incidents were reported to law enforcement agencies throughout the state in 2023, marking an increase for the seventh-straight year, according to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General (OAG).

The rise in incidents partially stems from improvements in recordkeeping, along with better community outreach from police about their role in investigating suspected hate and bias. Since 2019, law enforcement agencies around New Jersey have been required to share all confirmed and suspected bias incidents with the state.

But the OAG believes other factors have contributed, including misinformation spread on social media, political divisiveness around the nation, and lingering backlash against the Black Lives Matter movement that inspired mass protests around the world in 2020.

"Sadly, rising numbers of reported bias incidents have been a national trend, and we are not immune," said Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. "We are committed to doing everything within our power to curb that trend across our state."

This article contains reporting from Patch's Josh Bakan.