CRIME DECLINES

Wednesday, April 02, 2008
By PAUL KOEPP
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Hudson County saw a 13 percent drop in crime in the first six months of last year, according to the state Uniform Crime Report.

Both violent crime and total crime dropped by the same amount, compared to the first six months in 2006, according to the report released yesterday by state Attorney General Anne Milgram.

Among violent crimes, murders dropped from 18 to 12 and rapes from 50 to 41; robberies decreased from 1,092 to 904 and burglaries from 1,823 to 1,376, according to the report.

Nonviolent crimes also fell, with burglary dropping from 1,823 to 1,376 and larceny going from 4,604 to 4,405; motor vehicle thefts fell from 1,338 to 990, the report said.

The results are "beyond the margin of error," Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said. He said that crime data he has seen indicates that the downward crime trend continued beyond the first six months of 2007.

"Greater police presence and visibility is a factor, and Jersey City for one, I know, has made efforts to increase the police presence on the streets," DeFazio said.

"We are pleased to see that the hard work of the men and women of the Jersey City Police Department and of the other county law enforcement agencies is bearing fruit," Mayor Jerramiah Healy said. "We know that all of the initiatives to target gang activity and to get illegal guns off of city streets is making a difference."

Statewide, total violent crime fell 8 percent, but murders stayed about the same, while the number of bank and convenience store robberies rose. The biggest decrease was the 18 percent decline in motor vehicle thefts.

The six-month report reverses the state's increasing crime trend reported from 2005 to 2006.

"In Hudson County, we have a high level of cooperation between the county Prosecutor's Office and local departments, and local departments have good working relationships with each other," DeFazio said.

PAUL KOEPP can be reached at (201) 217-2400.