Medford Township had a significant drop in crimes during 2014, according to the state police’s end-of-the-year Uniform Crime Report.
The report said Medford saw a 30 percent drop in overall crime during 2014. There were 217 total crime reports in 2014, down from 310 in 2013 and 232 in 2012.
Medford Police Chief Richard Meder said he is very pleased to see such a sharp decrease in crime.
“When the UCR says we’ve had a decrease in crime of 30 percent, that’s ultimately what we are trying to do,” he said.
A big reason for the large decrease was a change in the number of burglaries, robberies and thefts. Burglaries were down 36.9 percent from 2013 and thefts decreased 33.3 percent. There were also no reported robberies or motor vehicle thefts last year. The township had three robberies and two vehicle thefts in 2013.
In 2013, Medford and other surrounding municipalities had an increase in burglary. Meder cited factors such as the high price of gold and the drug epidemic that helped lead to the increase. He said statistics change from year-to-year because of a multitude of similar factors.
Last year, Medford Police put a focus on being as visible as possible in all areas of the township.
“We’ve tried to do a very good job of using visibility as a deterrent,” he said. “We made a concentrated effort to be much more visible in our neighborhoods and our business communities.”
Last year, the police department began using a new database from Business Watch International that tracks all transactions made in secondhand shops and dealers based in Medford. The purpose of the database is to reduce the amount of time and effort expended in tracking down stolen items.
In less than a year, Meder said the database has become a key tool to solving cases of stolen items.
“It’s allowing agencies to work a lot more efficiently with one another,” he said. “It’s helping us recover some items.”
In many cases, criminals will steal precious metals, jewelry or electronics and try to sell them quickly for cash. In the past, police had a difficult time tracking down these items.
“Before, you would have to start calling, then you would have to get in the car and drive to pawn shops,” Meder said. “It was a long and tedious task.”
Since all secondhand transactions must be registered on the database, officers can pull up information quicker than ever before.
“It’s a tremendous enforcement tool,” Meder said.
The police department doesn’t put too much weight into the Uniform Crime Report. Meder said the report is good at showing how crime is trending in the township year-to-year. However, the township looks at other information as well.
“We look at the UCR statistics and we look at statistics throughout the county,” Meder said.
To see the full Uniform Crime Report for Medford or any other municipality in New Jersey, visit www.njsp.org/info/ucr_currentdata.html.
