Maplewood Sees Drop in Reported Crimes in 2011, Report States

Reported crime dropped from 501 in 2010 to 449 in 2011. The New Jersey State Police released its 2011 Uniform Crime Report on Friday with statewide criminal reports rising 3-percent from 2010 to 2011.

According to the report, Maplewood saw a reduction of 50 incidents last year.

With 23,867 residents and approximately 71 officers in its police force, Maplewood had 57 violent crimes which were split between 21 aggravated assaults, 33 robberies and three rapes. The majority if its reported incidents were of a non-violent nature (392) as the borough had 294 reported thefts last year. Also reported were 64 burglaries, 34 stolen vehicles and three arsons.

Overall, there were 217,073 reported crimes in New Jersey in 2011.

Murder rose 2-percent from 2010 to 2011, from 372 reported incidents to 380. Rape reports rose from 985 to 991, and robberies had the biggest jump from 11,859 to 12,216, the report showed.

Aggravated assault dropped 3-percent from 13,958 reports to 13,586.

“The latest crime data shows a slight increase in the overall crime rate in New Jersey,” New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said in a statement. “Although the factors that influence crime trends are complex and interwoven, we remain committed to working harder and smarter to combat crime and protect New Jersey citizens during what remains a tough economic time for much of our state and our nation.”

According to the report, there was a crime committed once every 2 minutes and 25 seconds in 2011, and males accounted for 69-percent of the arrests made.

A full copy of the 2011 Crime Index Report can be found here.