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To help me make a decision on which town to live in between Hillside and Carteret, I looked at the crime index records and to my surprise, I noticed that Hillside has a very low crime index compared to Carteret. Hillside has a Violent crime index of 1 and Property crime index of 1 as opposed to Carteret which has a Violent crime index of 5 and Property crime index of 7, far exceeding state level which stood at 3 each.
This is sort of confusing to me since Hillside has been panned on this forum and other places as having a high crime rate and less safe due to neighboring towns, while Carteret has been criticized for poor schools but not really for high in crime.
Could anyone please help explain this? I am confused as to which is safer.
I'll use one scenario so you can throw them stats in the garbage. According to City Data(sorry guys) Jersey City New Jersey has 9 registered sex offenders as of 2007. Now lets hear the truth. Jersey City has over 325 registered sex offenders FACT. I don't know who would buy a home based soley on numbers provided by independant sources. I would say the numbers are a little off. 325 real, 9 reported. I would go more along with the numbers provided by official law enforcement agencies like the NJ State Police numbers or the FBI stats.
Thanks.
Actually I got the data from links I found on this site (city-data) which I thought was provided by the state of New jersey but I do get your point.
Guess I will have to get back to the old way of asking people what they think to help me determine which of the two towns/areas is actually safer and better.
To help me make a decision on which town to live in between Hillside and Carteret, I looked at the crime index records and to my surprise, I noticed that Hillside has a very low crime index compared to Carteret. Hillside has a Violent crime index of 1 and Property crime index of 1 as opposed to Carteret which has a Violent crime index of 5 and Property crime index of 7, far exceeding state level which stood at 3 each.
This is sort of confusing to me since Hillside has been panned on this forum and other places as having a high crime rate and less safe due to neighboring towns, while Carteret has been criticized for poor schools but not really for high in crime.
Could anyone please help explain this? I am confused as to which is safer.
Don't forget that this forum is based on peoples opinions and perceptions. It may be that the forum posters (who aren't necessarily a representative slice of NJ THINK that Hillside has more crime that Cartaret.
And just to put both stats into perspective, the national average is 100 and Camden scores something like 250. So the difference between a 1 and a 7 isn't that much.
Edit: Out of curiosity I looked up the NJ crime stats for each town. Hillside does appear to have a higher crime rate than Carteret, although both have dropped in recent years. What it doesn't tell you is what this crime really is, if it is home invasions, store thefts, muggings or husbands beating up their wives. You should really contact the police departments in each town if this is such a huge issue for you.
The link for that information is at: NJ.com: Star-Ledger Data
Hope that helps.
One other thing... remember that statistics only account for "reported crime." In some New Jersey cities and towns, the message by the police department has been quite clear: Don't bother us!
I learned this 15 years ago while rehabbing a house in a moderate neighborhood of a city many deem to be unsafe. Called the police in the morning to report a break-in and burglary. Told they'd send someone. Called again around noon. Brushed off.
Called again late afternoon. This time, the person who answered was somewhat aggravated. He asked, "Have shots been fired?" Thought the question ludicrous, but I finally got the message: "If shots haven't been fired, don't call us!"
This wasn't in Hillside, so I can't say that it's the reason for Hillside's crime-free statistics, but it is food for thought.
As for your dilemma, Carteret or Hillside, all I can share is my personal experience. I've worked in both towns. For me, it's a no-brainer. I'd pick Carteret in a heartbeat.
Crime stats are based on reported crimes. Key word - reported. There is a lot that isn't seen due to under reporting. Also, the stats will be based on population, not actual numbers (depending on your source).
Personally, I'd move to Cartaret before Hillside without a second thought.
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