TRENTON — Attorney General Anne Milgram Dec. 29 announced a 10 percent drop in New Jersey murders from 2008 to 2009; but an increase in six counties including a 200 percent jump in Cape May County. But that local figure might be misleading.
As of Dec. 21, this state’s 21 county prosecutors reported 332 murders compared to 376 over the same period last year. This was the third consecutive year that murders dropped in New Jersey.
“We have now successfully decreased the number of murders In New Jersey three years in a row. This is an important step towards greater public safety, and it is the first time that homicides have been reduced three consecutive years in a decade,” Milgram said in a release. “This could not have happened without the commitment and hard work of the county prosecutors and local police chiefs.”
According to the release, there were declines in the number of murders reported in Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Hudson, Cumberland, Mercer, Morris, Salem, Somerset and Union counties. There were no murders in 2009 so far in Hunterdon, Salem and Warren counties. Murders increased in Atlantic, Cape May, Essex, Gloucester, Middlesex and Monmouth, and were unchanged in Ocean and Sussex.
Murders in this county may have increased 200 percent, but that figure isn’t statistically significant because in 2008 there weren’t any murders and so far this year, there’s been only two. On March 20, Donnie Terrell Moore, 38, was stabbed to death in Wildwood and on April 22, two-year-old Caden Rivera was beaten to death in Woodbine.
Murders have been consistently low since Taylor has been the county prosecutor. In 2004 there were two; 2005, four; 2006, two; and 2007, one.
The Attorney General also noted in her release that anti-gang initiatives have netted 4,597 arrests in 2009 statewide including 1,039 gang members, mostly Bloods but also some Crips, Latin Kings, Netas, Pagans and MS-13.
Regional law enforcement (Gangstat) meetings, under the direction of Jose Cordero, the statewide director of gangs, guns and violent crime control strategies, allow prosecutors and law enforcement officials to share gang-related information, the release stated. Taylor said representatives from his office attend Gangstat meetings in Gloucester County to share intelligence on regional gang activity.
Year to date in this county, the Prosecutor’s Gangs, Guns and Narcotics Task Force has arrested 160 individuals including 64 violent fugitives, Taylor said. The Task Force has also seized 30 guns — 19 long guns and 11 handguns — as well as over $100,000 in narcotics and over $154,000 in cash, Taylor added. Members of the Bloods street gang have been arrested in this county over the past several months.
“Trends show that street narcotics sales are down and home invasions are down,” Taylor told the Herald.
The figures from the Attorney General’s release are preliminary numbers. Official statistics won’t be revealed until later in 2010 with the release of the 2009 Uniform Crime Report (UCR). The 2008 UCR was released on Sept. 8.
Last year’s UCR showed a 5-percent increase in the total crime index statewide due to a 6-percent bump in nonviolent crimes and despite a 3-percent drop in violent reports. The state’s crime rate was 26.2 victims for every 1,000 residents.
According to the 2008 UCR, this county had the highest crime rate in New Jersey (50.6 victims per 1,000 inhabitants), which was nearly double the state average, but it also saw the largest drop in total crime of 6 percent and the third largest reduction in violent crime with 13 percent drop. Taylor noted that domestic violence was also down 8 percent in 2008.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com
Lower Township – Who are these people that are obvious experts on trash cans and leaf pick-up? Maybe they don't have any trash to put out or leaves in their yard!!
