Uniform Crime Reports Shows That Violent Crime Remains a Problem in New Jersey

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office recently released the annual Uniform Crime Report (UCR), which compiles crime data from across the state. The data, which comes from local police departments and the NJ State Police, is used to determine how effective law enforcement has been at protecting the public against criminal activity.

This year’s UCR shows that violent crime remains a problem throughout New Jersey. Although crime is down overall, the violent crime numbers are still staggering. For example, in 2014, NJ saw more than 11,000 aggravated assaults, more than 10,000 robberies, nearly 1,000 rapes and sexual assaults, and 354 murders. The good news is that these numbers are actually improvements upon the total number of violent crimes committed in New Jersey in 2013. The bad news is that the violent crime statistics indicate that not enough is being done by state lawmakers and local law enforcement to ensure that the public remains safe from violent attacks.

As for homicides, the counties with the highest percentage of New Jersey’s murders in 2014 were Essex County, Camden County, and Mercer County. Those three areas accounted for approximately 55 percent of the total number of killings in New Jersey, with a lot of the homicides being committed in Newark and Camden. Meanwhile, Cape May County and Sussex County had a total of one murder between them.

Law enforcement is doing a decent job of solving homicide investigations and arresting suspects. In 2014, the clearance rate on homicides in New Jersey was 60 percent, up from just 38 percent the year before.

It is important to keep in mind that overall violent crime was down 12 percent in 2014. In fact, crime rates in New Jersey have declined steadily since 2010. Moreover, crime in NJ is going down at a faster rate than it is across the United States, suggesting that New Jersey law enforcement is doing something right.

To learn more, check out the following article: Report Shows Violent Crime Down in NJ and Nationwide