Crime Scene Middletown: Local Crime Statistics Mirror County's But Appear To Be On The Rise For 2011

The Asbury Park Press has an article posted about the rising crime rate for Monmouth and Ocean Counties. It states that according to the NJ State Police Uniform Crime Report for 2010 incidents of major crime( violent crimes of murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, and the nonviolent crimes of burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft) rose by 7% in Ocean County and 4% in Monmouth County in the year following 2009.

Seeing how I reside in Middletown, which has a population of 67,000 residents spreadout over 42 square miles, I am not really interested in what is happening in Ocean County, I'm more interested in what's happening closer to home.

According to the APP article:

In Monmouth County, most categories of violent crime remained stable, although aggravated assaults fell 11 percent. The increase in overall major crimes in Monmouth County was partly attributable to a 6.5 percent uptick in the number of burglaries, from 2,528 to 2,694.

Monmouth County saw a 24 percent jump in the number of arrests for the sale or manufacture of drugs, from 455 to 562

After reading the full article it made me a bit curious about what has been going on in Middletown over this same time period, what I found locally seems to have mirrored what happened county wide.

In Middletown, while the crime index for 2010 rose a mere 0.84% over the 2009 index (12.39 vs 13.23), the incidents of Part I Crimes (Murder, Rape, Robbery, Agg. Assault,Burglary, Larceny, Auto Theft, Arson) rose 5.2% (2009/828 vs 2010/873) and the incidents of Part II Crimes (Simple Assaut,Forgery, Fraud, Embezzlement,Vandalism, Weapons, Other Sex Offenses, Disorderly Conduct and Other) rose 13% (2009/4454 vs 2010/5111).

I found this information posted on the Middletown Township website posted under the Police Department link for the year to date Crime Stats. I've been keeping an eye on these statistics for most of the year, after I discovered them posted on the Township website a number of months ago. The stat sheet compares the crime index and incidents of crime in Middletown going back to 2002 and has been recently updated to include incidents of crime through October 2011.

Looking at the reported numbers thus far for 2011, it seems that the crime rate in Middletown will be somewhat higher than it was in 2010. With two months left to report crime statistics, Part I type crimes total 690 while Part II type crimes total 3932. Interestingly (or not), the arrest rate is also up over last year thus far (1599),which I suppose should be expected given the increase in incidents.

Calls for service is also up sharply and should exceed last years total of 45,587 which is staggering to me when you consider how understaffed Middletown's Police Department is,on the flip side of that however, is that the number of summonses written thus far this year. It seems that summonses issued should also top the total of 6,473 that were issued in 2010.

Given the numbers, I think members of Middletown's Police Department should be commended for the hard work and effort they give keeping us all safe during this time of increased criminal activity.

Residents are quick to criticize when response times are slow or when they see a police car parked on the side of the road with an officer just sitting there seeming to be doing nothing and are slow to give credit for a job well done under stressful circumstances.