A host of Newark, state and federal officials came together Thursday to tout city statistics showing a significant reduction in crime reports in New Jersey’s largest city.
“We are witnessing huge reductions in crime,” said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. “We’re not just talking small reductions. We’re talking huge reductions, outstanding numbers over a four-year period. And we’re not doing this to take victory laps. We’re doing this to say that we’re moving in the right direction.”
The statistics released Thursday, compiled by the Newark Police, show year over year declines in major crime categories, in some cases by significant amounts. Homicides were down 26% in 2019, from 69 in 2018 to 51 so far this year, and rape was down from 154 to 134, or 13%. Auto thefts were down 20%, from 1,869 to 1492.
Other crime categories were still down, but by single-digit percentages. Year over year robbery statistics showed a drop of 6%, from 672 to 631. And the numbers for aggravated assaults were off by just 1%, from 1,188 in 2018 to 1,175 this year.
Overall, the crime stats showed a drop of 13%, with violent crimes off 4% and property crimes down 17%.
It was indeed a measure of good news for a city that, amid signs of rapid economic development, has also been rocked this year by reports of lead contamination in the water supply that drew news crews from across the country. City officials have also come under sharp criticism for their response.
“It is really truly, truly amazing and wonderful, may I add, to go around and understand that there are thousands of people who find their car in the morning parked where they left it, either in their driveway or in front of their house,” said Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontura. “It wasn’t always like that.”
Baraka made note of the fact that the declines have come as the city police department is under the scrutiny of a monitor, the result of a federal consent decree that came in response of citizen complaints about abuse and misbehavior by officers. The mayor said Newark has been working steadily to emerge from this period of oversight with a new attitude towards residents and policing policies.
“Overall crime reduction during my administration has been about 31% from the previous four years, meaning about 20,000 less victims,” he said, as he stood with state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, Patrick J. Callahan of the State Police, Baraka and his public safety director, Anthony Ambrose.
“If you want to put it in that perspective, we’re talking 20,000 less people that were victimized by crime,” he added. “More important to me, even so, is that citizen complaints are actually down 68%.”
Interviews with Newark residents showed a mix between those who say they’ve seen improvements and those who haven’t.
“I know Newark gets a bad rap because a lot of media, a lot of news, report only on the bad things that are happening,” said Kiana Wiley. “You don’t hear about the good that’s happening, you don’t hear about the progress, you don’t hear about the things that are up and coming, and things that are getting a new start, and how things that are getting better.”
Louis Shockley was among the doubters.
“Just go through the community and see all the makeshift memorials,” he said. “We still got people getting shot, we still got people getting killed, and carjackings are getting worse.”
The speakers at Thursday’s event noted that keeping crime down year after year takes continued collaboration, and that stubborn crime problems in the city’s public housing, with six killings this year, will be a focus in 2020.
