Weehawken crime statistics up for the first time in a decade Overall numbers up by 18, but violent crimes rise by 20
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According to the report, which was released Monday, Weehawken's overall crime index rose to 374 reported crimes from 356 in 2005. It represented the first rise in the crime index in the township in over a decade and only the second time the index increased since 1990.
There were some glaring increases among the different crime categories released by the State Police. Weehawken's total of violent crimes reported rose to 43 in 2006, compared to 23 the previous year. Aggravated assault numbers climbed to 23 last year, in comparison to just 10 in 2005.
The biggest jump occurred in larceny, which is described as theft without the use of physical force or a weapon. Weehawken had 220 reported cases of larceny in 2006, compared to 189 in 2005.
Weehawken also reported its first homicide in three years, which was the shocking murder of Bergen County teenager Jennifer Moore in the Park Avenue Hotel after spending the night partying in Manhattan in July of 2006.
However, Weehawken Public Safety Director Jeff Welz isn't overly concerned with the crime figures.
"The total of 356 in 2005 represents our lowest total in the last 25 years," Welz said. "We've worked very hard to keep the decrease consistent over the years, but it's hard to sustain a decrease every year, considering the activity on the waterfront, the [Lincoln] tunnel, mass transit. We have a lot of transient traffic that comes in and out of the town. It's very hard to maintain that excellence."
Larceny up
Welz attributed the rise in the larceny numbers to the rash of recent vehicle break-ins, with the target of the thieves being the global positioning systems.
"The thefts of GPS systems have been bad," Welz said. "We've been focusing our attention toward preventing those crimes, but still people leave the systems sitting on their dashboards in clear sight."
Welz also was concerned with the rise in violent crime, but admitted that preventing such crimes are next to impossible.
"Violent crimes are very hard to detect, because they are usually crimes of passion," Welz said. "Half of them were related to domestic violence calls. If there's an injury that occurs, then it gets logged to both domestic violence and aggravated assault [categories]."
Welz said that the random robberies, also included in the violent crime list, can not be prevented as well.
"If a man is walking down the street and someone comes behind him and says, `Give me your wallet,' you just can't prevent that," Welz said.
Welz said that the statistics also include incidents reported to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as well as New Jersey Transit. As long as the incidents took place in the Lincoln Tunnel or perhaps on a Hudson-Bergen Light Rail train while in Weehawken, it counts towards the crime totals.
There were some bright spots in the report. Auto theft numbers dropped from 56 in 2005 to 35 last year. There was a slight decrease in domestic violence calls, from 49 in 2005 to 48 in 2006. The overall non-violent crime totals dipped by two, from 333 in 2005 to 331 last year.
"But we're unhappy with the spikes in the other areas," Welz said. "We categorized each type of crime and addressed them."
Preventative measures
Welz said that the township knew in January that the crime totals would not be favorable.
"The report coming out late really doesn't matter," Welz said. "We don't wait to see what the State Police report says. We start acting once we submit the numbers. But the report gives us an insight on what are neighbors are doing."
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner also expressed some concern over the report.
"There's always going to be a bad year every now and then," Turner said. "We have to watch the trends. Our police department does a fantastic job. For 17 years, we've always had a significantly declining crime rate. It's still unsatisfactory that we had an increase. Are we pleased with what happened last year? No. But are we pleased with the overall trend? Absolutely. We can never sit on the laurels of the past."
Overall, the crime figures dipped in Hudson County, from 21,848 crimes reported in 2005 to 19,750 in 2006. Hudson County saw decreases in all of the categories across the board.
"We analyze those numbers and pool our resources to make sure that we don't see another spike in crime. We have made inroads already," said Welz.
Welz reports a drop of 16 percent in overall crime and a 38 percent dip in violent crime over the first nine months of 2007.
"If the trend continues, we should be way below those in 2005, which was our lowest crime total since the 1970s," Welz said. "We knew back in January that we had an increase. We were definitely concerned with the increase of violent crime. The fact that we had an increase at all is a bother. We think that this year was more of an abnormality than anything, considering the trend we had in previous years. We were due for a slight increase, because with all we have going on in town, how low can you really go? We're still below what we once were."
Turner said that the township will implement two new ideas that could help battle crime.
"We're going to look into putting high density lighting that will rise above the existing trees and provide more street lighting," Turner said. "We're also installing surveillance cameras on Pershing Road and Hackensack Plank Road, with monitors at our new police desk that will help with patrols. We're always trying new things."
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at either OGSMAR@aol.com or jhague@hudsonreporter.com
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