By Walter Elliott
NEWARK – The crime rate statistics for 2020, as recently posted by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and the State Police, presents a mixed picture for New Jersey’s largest city.
The latest Uniform Crime Report has major crime counts and rates declining overall and in six of the seven major crime categories compared to 2019 and 2018.
When it comes to arrests and “cases cleared,” however, the Newark Police Division has more mixed results.
Although there have been increased arrests overall and in two categories, it had actually declined in two categories, remained flat in a third and no arrests made in a fourth.
In “Cases Cleared” – where a crime had been solved with an arrest or closed – mustered one improvement in a category compared to 2018. Six of the categories had fewer cleared cases.
One category, “Auto Theft,” had no cases cleared among the 1,707 incidents reported throughout 2020.
The Attorney General and State Police annually release\ its UCR in August as a snapshot of what crimes have increased or decreased among State Police, county and municipal jurisdictions during the previous calendar year. (State Troopers served as local law enforcers in 17 municipalities.)
The traditional report’s categories pretty much remain the same: Murder, Rape, Robbery, Assault, Burglary, Larceny and Auto Theft. “Rape” covers all sexual assaults although the term is not used in state legal statutes.
“Auto Theft,” however, now combines theft of automobiles and theft of objects from motor vehicles. There may be some category-crossing when a carjacking (“Theft of Auto” and “Robbery”) becomes violent (“Assault” or “Murder.”)
The printed UCRs, as of 2015, are a thing of the past. While one may find those volumes in designated public libraries, they and post-2015 editions may be viewed and downloaded from the NJAG’s website.
The following 2020 statistics may not be as complete as in previous editions.
The 2018-20 editions’ Essex County jurisdictions now include separate categories for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Essex County Sheriff plus Essex County College, Montclair State University Police, NJIT, NJTransit, Rutgers University-Newark police and “State Police-Essex County.”. The result is that what incidents and cases a law enforcement agency data on may or may not indicate the municipality where they had happened.
This year’s report compilation date – March 18, 2021 – is earlier than previous dates. 2019’s compilation was completed on June 12, 2020, and 2018 on Aug. 13, 2019.
The Newark Police Division reported 6,059 incidents overall in Calendar Year 2020. “Overall” is the aggregate of the said seven major bodily and property crime categories. That figure comes out to 2,146.6 crimes per 100,000 residents.
The said 2020 incidents, compared to 7,743 in 2018, translates to a 2.15 percent decrease. Whether there were fewer such crimes occurring or reported is a grey area.
NPD reported 1,103 arrests in 2020 a four percent increase on 2018’s 1,058 arrests.
There were 522 “Cases Cleared” in 2020, or a 10.36 percent decrease from 710 in 2018. (There were 591 cleared cases in 2019.)
The cases cleared in 2020 comes out to nine percent of the number of reported offenses. That nine percent was consistent in 2019 and 18.
NPD’s MURDER rate declined 10.9 percent, from 75 in 2018 to 57 in ’19 and 56 in ’20. 2020’s murder rate was 19.8 per 100,000.
Murder arrests had a three-year bell curve: 18 in 2018, 28 in ’19 and back to 18 last year. Cases cleared in 2020, 17, declined 10 percent when compared to the 19 in 2018. (There were 25 cases cleared in 2019.) The 17 cases come out to 30 percent of the 56 reported.
RAPE, or Sexual Assault, was reported in 116 cases last year for 41.1 offenses per 100,000. There were 11.3 percent less offenses reported compared to the 150 reported in ’18.
There were two arrests and two cases cleared, or two percent of the 116 reported. The arrests were down 80 percent from 2018 and clearances down nine percent from the seven in 2018. There were no arrests or cleared cases in 2019.
ROBBERY declines some 51 percent, from 689 in 2018 to 367 last year. 2020’s offenses came out to 41.1 per 100,000.
There were 182 arrests, or six percent less than 2018’s 196. 2019 had 198 arrests.
Fifty-one cases were cleared last year – half of 2018’s 102. The 51 cleared cases versus the 367 offenses comes out to 14 percent.
There were 957 ASSAULTS last year, or 16 percent less than 2018’s 1,155. The reported offenses coms out to 336.6 per 100,000.
Last year’s 532 arrests are a 10 percent increase on 2018’s 477. Cleared cases declined 16 percent, from 300 in 2018 to 250 in 2020. The 250 cleared cases comprising 26 percent of the 957 offenses.
There were 937 reported BURGLARIES in 2020 lor 337.6 per 100,00. The said cases are 7.7 more than 2018’s 832.
There were 532 arrests last year, a 310 percent increase on 108 in 2018. There were 250 cleared cases in 2020, a 109 percent gain on 13 in 2018. The 250 cleared cases are 26 percent of the 937 offenses.
2,325 offenses of LARCENY were reported in 2020 or 10.2 percent less than 2018’s 2,827. Last year’s rate comes out to 823.7 per 100,000.
There were 241 arrests, or three percent more than 2018’s 235. (There were 268 arrests in 2019.)
There were two percent fewer cleared cases last year than 2018, 133 to 166. The 133 accounts for six percent of the 2,375.
AUTO THEFTS (theft of or from autos) was down some 10.07 percent from 2018, 1,707-2,015 – or 600 per 100,000.
There were, however, no arrests or cleared cases last year. There were nine arrests last year and five in 2018.
While 2020 was left with no cleared cases for an actual zero, 2019 and ’18 had virtual zero percentages. The seven cleared 2018 cases came to a statistical zero to its 2,015 reports – as had the seven to 2019’s 1,541.
Why no arrests or cleared cases in auto theft remains open to interpretation. It is not clear whether it takes longer to investigate auto theft than other categories or if the squad’s resources were impacted by COVID-related staffing changes among the overall NPD.
A query to an NPD spokesperson was not immediately returned.
