Crime is up about 1 percent throughout the entire state, according to the Uniform Crime Reports published by the state last week.
The annual report is based on crime statistics submitted to the New Jersey Uniform Crime Reporting System by every New Jersey law enforcement agency for the year 2010, according to Paula T. Dow, the attorney general of New Jersey. Effective law enforcement requires accurate crime statistics in order to identify the extent, type, and location of criminal activity, she said in the report. Criminal Justice administrators and planners have long recognized the Uniform Crime Reporting Program as the vehicle to accomplish this objective.
Violent crime and nonviolent crime incidents are both up in the state, with nonviolent incidents increasing by about 3,000 incidents over 2009 to 183,643 in 2010. Violent crime increased by about 68 incidents, up to 27,174 incidents in 2010.
In Camden County, the overall crime incidents — both nonviolent and violent — went up about 3 percent from 2009 to 2010. There were 19,569 incidents in 2010 to only 19,011 in 2009.
The Borough of Haddonfield saw a bump in its overall criminal incidents from 178 in 2009 to 318 in 2010, according to the crime reports. Violent crimes jumped from 6 to 11 and nonviolent crime jumped from 172 to 307 incidents. For the second year in a row there were no murders or incidents of rape in the borough.
The crime rate per 1,000 residents went up to about 27 incidents, up from about 16 per 1,000 residents in 2009.
Haddonfield Police Chief John Banning said the crime reports are a good tool to see overall criminal patterns throughout the state and the county, but the police departments finds its month to month reports more useful for policing.
It’s tough though, he said, for a town like Haddonfield where any decrease or increase in the incidents can skew the stats. The overall increase in criminal incidents from 2009 to 2010 can definitely be attributed to the number of car break ins — many of which involved unlocked vehicles — and thefts of copper downspouts. Incidents such as these increased through all municipalities in Camden County, he said, not just Haddonfield.
“The economy certainly plays a big part in this. You need to look at the big picture,” he said.
