The NJ Attorney General's Office just released the annual "Crime in New Jersey" report and posted it here online.
New Jersey State Police - 2009 Uniform Crime Report
Basically, the overall homicide rate dropped. In 2008 there were 376 killings in the state. Last year there were just 320 or a 15% drop. That makes NJ having a homicide rate of 3.7 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. That is lower than the 5.0 nationwide figure according to the latest FBI data.
However, not ALL communities had decreases in homicides. I was disappointed with Newark and even Jersey City with their increases. But overall, it is a good trend.
I also liked the way the state report broke down so much of the crime stats. For example, it would tell us that 68% of all homicide were committed with firearms and 78% of all homicide victims were men. Also, it told us that 65% of all homicide victims were African-American. It also broke down the data for less serious offenses such as larceny and DUI. It was interesting to report that 31% of all DUIs and 43% of all larcenies involved the arrests of female suspects.
I just found the report very interesting not just for the very basic crime stats but also the amount of detail on all arrests and offenses. I just thought that some of you may be interested in viewing the report for yourselves.
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