— Crime in the Cities — 103

This section deals with serious crimes reported in the large urban cities of the state. These cities represent 19 percent of the population and historically account for one third of the reported Crime Index of the state.
This analysis involves the latest ten-year period 1998-2007 and endeavors further to identify crime trends in these urban areas.
The cities included in this analysis were initially categorized as urban municipalities (i.e., densely populated with extensive development) by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Division of State and Regional Planning, Bureau of Statewide
Planning, and will continue to be used for comparative purposes.
The criteria used in the selection of these cities were (1) classified as urban character and (2) have a population of 50,000 or more inhabitants.
For further comparative analysis, the urban cities were subdivided into two distinct groupings.
Group number one consisted of the state’s six largest urban centers with populations of 80,000 or over and is categorized as
“Major Urban.”
The second group included the “Major Urban” and the additional urban communities with populations of 50,000 or more inhabitants, and is referred to as the “Urban 15.”
“MAJOR URBAN”
• Camden City
• Elizabeth City
• Paterson City
• Trenton City
• Bayonne City
• Camden City
• Clifton City
• Toms River Twp.
• East Orange City
• Jersey City
• Newark City
“URBAN 15”
• Elizabeth City
• Irvington Town
• Jersey City
• Newark City
• Passaic City
• Paterson City
• Trenton City
• Union City
• Vineland City
• Woodbridge Twp.
The accompanying table reflects percent changes in the state’s “Major Urban” and “Urban 15” municipalities Crime Index for the years 1998/2007.
104 — Crime in the Cities —

Population
TOTAL CRIME INDEX
Violent Crime
Nonviolent Crime
Murder
Rape
Robbery
Aggravated Assault
Burglary
Larceny-Theft
NEW JERSEY “MAJOR URBAN” “URBAN 15”
1998
2007
Percent Change
7,993,220
8,724,560
9
928,249
961,319
4
1,537,582
1,609,312
5
Motor Vehicle Theft
1998
2007
Percent Change
1998
2007
Percent Change
1998
2007
Percent Change
1998
2007
Percent Change
1998
2007
Percent Change
1998
2007
Percent Change
1998
2007
Percent Change
1998
2007
Percent Change
1998
2007
Percent Change
1998
2007
Percent Change
1,623
1,029
-37
15,115
12,562
-17
18,663
14,554
-22
54,491
37,234
-32
171,267
133,094
-22
35,158
21,944
-38
296,638
220,798
-26
35,722
28,526
-20
260,916
192,272
-26
321
381
19
470
240
-49
7,183
5,099
-29
6,814
4,774
-30
12,588
7,690
-39
27,671
18,339
-34
12,756
9,441
-26
67,636
45,805
-32
14,621
10,335
-29
53,015
35,470
-33
154
222
44
654
360
-45
9,281
6,941
-25
9,459
6,759
-29
19,111
11,749
-39
42,047
30,168
-28
17,212
12,083
-30
97,950
68,324
-30
19,580
14,324
-27
78,370
54,000
-31
186
264
42
Percent Change
• During the ten-year period 1998/2007, the Crime Index in New Jersey has decreased 26 percent. The Crime Index in the
“Urban 15” cities decreased 30 percent and the six “Major Urban” cities decreased 32 percent.
•
•
Violent crime in the state decreased 20 percent, the 15 urban cities decreased 27 percent and the six major cities decreased
29 percent.
Nonviolent crime in the state decreased 26 percent, the “Urban 15” decreased 31 percent and the six “Major Urban” decreased 33 percent.
— Crime in the Cities — 105

NEW JERSEY MAJOR URBAN URBAN 15
CRIME INDEX TOTAL
Percent Distribution
Violent Crime
Percent Distribution
Nonviolent Crime
Percent Distribution
Murder
Percent Distribution
Rape
Percent Distribution
Robbery
Percent Distribution
Aggravated Assault
Percent Distribution
Burglary
Percent Distribution
Larceny-Theft
Percent Distribution
Motor Vehicle Theft
Percent Distribution
2,554,320
319,226
2,235,094
3,602
13,056
136,596
165,972
436,291
1,481,271
317,532
565,261
22.1
119,566
37.5
445,695
33.9
96,164
22.0
223,286
15.1
126,245
39.8
19.9
1,844
51.2
3,304
25.3
58,123
42.6
56,295
842,019
33.0
169,873
53.2
672,146
49.3
146,815
33.7
355,089
24.0
170,242
53.6
30.1
2,333
64.8
4,690
35.9
81,019
59.3
81,831
•
•
Distribution:
• Six major urban centers—Camden, Newark, Jersey City, Trenton, Paterson and Elizabeth—collectively represent 11 percent of New Jersey’s total population. These same urban centers, during the period 1998 through 2007 accounted for 22.1
percent of the state’s total crime.
• “Major Urban” centers from 1998 through 2007 accounted for 38 percent of all violent crime and 20 percent of the nonviolent crimes in the entire state.
The 15 urban municipalities represent 18 percent of the state’s total population.
“Urban 15” municipalities accounted for 33 percent of New Jersey’s total Crime Index. Violent crime was 53 percent of the state total, while nonviolent crime was 30 percent of the state total during this ten-year period.
• Sixty-five percent of all reported murders occurred in the “Urban 15” cities during this ten-year period.
106 — Crime in the Cities —

•
•
•
•
•
There has never been a clear-cut definition for street crime within the criminal justice system. The nation’s clearinghouse for the collection and dissemination of criminal statistics, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has no criteria in the categorization of specific crimes to be designated or defined as “street crimes.” More and more, this media term has been confused with the violent crime group of murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
Although any particular crime can and does occur on the street, this analysis, because of reporting constraints within the
Uniform Crime Reporting System, is limited to defining street crimes as those offenses which occur, or are most likely to occur, on streets, highways, parking lots, etc.. These crimes include highway robbery, purse-snatching, theft from autos, theft of auto parts and accessories, theft of bicycles, and motor vehicle thefts. All are crimes against property and only one, highway robbery, falls in the violent crime group.
• During the ten-year period 1998-2007, the “Urban 15” cities accounted for 41 percent of the street crimes in the state.
Seventy-one percent of all highway robberies in the state occurred in the “Urban 15” cities during the ten-year period.
More than half of all motor vehicle thefts during the survey span occurred in these 15 urban municipalities.
Thirty-one percent of all purse-snatchings during the survey span were perpetrated in the “Urban 15” cities.
In 2007, Motor Vehicle Theft and Highway Robbery were at their lowest levels in this ten-year period.
The accompanying table reflects percent distribution of street crime for the “Urban 15” cities for the years 1998-2007.
STREET CRIME 1998
Highway Robbery 7,093 6,669 6,231 6,504 6,201 6,098 5,761 6,085 5,935 5,142 61,719 70.9
Purse Snatching 600 486 499 536 586 530 418 541 374 319 4,889 30.9
Larceny from
Motor Vehicle
Larceny of Motor
Vehicle Parts &
Accessories
Larceny of
Bicycles
Motor Vehicle
Theft
TOTAL
12,107 11,295 10,789 10,983 10,762 9,938 9,590 9,214 8,889 9,949 103,516 31.6
4,777 3,871 3,919 4,217 4,030 5,327 4,769 4,639 3,239 3,435
1,768 1,677 1,464 1,479 1,256 1,083 979 884 856 880
42,223 39.3
12,326 11.3
17,212 18,469 18,429 20,022 19,699 18,783 16,862 15,199 13,647 12,083 170,405 53.7
43,557 42,467 41,331 43,741 42,534 41,759 38,379 36,562 32,940 31,808 395,078 41.0
Percent of State
“Street Crime”
Total
38.5
1999
40.0
2000
41.7
2001
41.8
2002
42.1
2003
42.6
2004
42.7
2005
41.8
2006
39.4
2007
39.1
TOTAL
41.0
Percent
of
State
Total
-
— Crime in the Cities — 107

Municipality
Camden City
Newark City
Jersey City
Trenton City
Paterson City
Elizabeth City
Vineland City
East Orange City
Irvington Town
Bayonne City
Union City
Woodbridge Twp.
Toms River Twp.
Clifton City
Passaic City
URBAN "15"
TOTALS
2006
2007
2006
2007
2006
2007
2006
2007
Year Population
2006 80,010
2007 79,318
2006
2007
2006
2007
280,666
281,402
239,614
241,789
Crime
Index
6,515
6,413
15,097
13,970
10,589
9,338
Violent
Crime
1,698
1,770
Non-
Violent
Crime Murder Rape Robbery
4,817 32 66 775
4,643 42 67 784
2,981 12,116
2,489 11,481
2,923
2,456
7,666
6,882
107
105
22
20
88
60
60
47
1,360
1,127
1,573
1,264
Aggravated
Assault Burglary
825 1,179
877 1,129
1,426
1,197
1,268
1,125
2,007
1,954
1,671
1,505
84,639
83,923
149,843
148,708
125,809
126,179
58,164
58,271
3,895
3,931
6,037
5,858
5,772
6,275
3,278
2,913
1,281
1,176
1,672
1,479
905
945
541
335
2,614
2,755
4,365
4,379
4,867
5,330
2,737
2,578
17
16
6
5
18
25
15
14
35
25
19
13
33
15
37
26
539
612
167
147
633
597
808
695
314
292
349
170
597
539
812
744
810
856
1,361
1,460
682
786
539
589
2006
2007
2006
2007
2006
2007
2006
2007
68,190
67,247
58,876
58,024
59,987
58,844
65,128
63,930
3,181
2,350
4,488
4,548
1,057
1,137
1,983
1,829
721
529
1,321
1,243
194
190
407
407
2,460
1,821
3,167
3,305
863
947
1,576
1,422
2006
2007
2006
2007
2006
2007
2006
2007
100,577
99,208
94,660
94,889
79,922
79,606
68,338
67,974
3,117
3,155
2,075
2,167
2,131
2,138
2,325
2,282
267
242
112
125
179
223
647
695
2,850
2,913
1,963
2,042
1,952
1,915
1,678
1,587
2006 1,614,423 71,540 15,849 55,691
2007 1,609,312 68,304 14,304 54,000
78
108
273
313
80
105
44
46
7,685
6,921
87
84
214
182
373
241
681
616
4
4
4
6
428
360
3
3
2
5
17
14
12
14
25
32
23
29
1
1
1
1
255
264
5
3
1
-
-
1
-
-
21
23
9
8
98
110
366
376
170
122
56
65
7,481
6,759
102
99
188
220
314
248
596
575
361
389
394
395
415
439
312
327
11,841
11,749
188
212
405
332
593
446
924
930
2,152
2,212
1,552
1,640
1,296
1,324
919
952
30,203
30,168
575
632
931
917
Larceny-
Theft
2,458
2,353
4,951
5,124
4,496
4,156
1,340
1,512
1,999
2,007
2,948
3,187
2,068
1,898
1,229
896
1,289
1,358
158
158
189
189
201
205
165
160
5,472
5,470
227
225
175
167
Total
Police
Officers
423
410
Total Police
Employees
483
497
1,286
1,227
870
902
359
360
457
494
357
349
149
155
1,498
1,623
1,071
1,080
419
414
545
578
491
469
174
191
266
277
190
192
319
339
220
220
188
188
222
225
250
257
213
195
6,587
6,758
270
265
224
217
295
202
365
240
283
262
99
75
13,647
12,083
100
103
240
173
Motor
Vehicle
Theft
1,180
1,161
5,158
4,403
1,499
1,221
464
387
1,005
912
1,237
1,357
130
91
638
479
954
1,017