Dear Editor:
Your news item stating that Jersey City had the fifth highest auto theft rate in the nation was based on a report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), which for the second year in a row, has defamed Jersey City by releasing false and misleading information.
Allow me to set the record straight.
Yours news brief states that according to NICB, there were 4,502 auto thefts in Jersey City last year. In truth, as verified by FBI crime statistics, there were only 2,434 auto thefts last year. That’s 2,000 fewer auto thefts!
In reality, we have an auto theft rate which is lower than Newark, Camden and Patterson, but you would never know that by relying on NICB’s faulty formula.
If you look closely at NICB’s report, they do not measure auto theft in Jersey City at all, but rather use Hudson County’s overall auto theft rate and label it as “Jersey City”.
To further compound their error, when NICB compares Hudson County to other regions in the nation, they use a statistical formula that is seriously flawed. How?
Here’s one striking example. When NICB compares Hudson County’s auto theft rate to the Newark region, they include Warren, Sussex, Union and Somerset counties in Newark’s reported average. Therefore, even though Newark has twice as many auto thefts per year when compared to Jersey City, according to NICB’s national report “Jersey City” (which is really Hudson County) has a higher auto theft rate than “Newark” (which is really Essex, Warren, Sussex, Union and Somerset counties).
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you take a high crime area like Newark and combine it with farm land in Sussex County, horse stables in Somerset County and a host of other suburban communities, you are going to get a lower overall theft rate for the “Newark” region.
What is most distressing about this report is that Jersey City contacted NICB last year to explain the flaws in their model, yet they still continue to use it. That’s an outrage!
Since I was elected mayor in 1992 and begin implementing community policing initiatives in Jersey City, auto theft has been reduced by almost 50 percent. That’s a record of which we can all be proud.
But to receive the full financial benefits of lower crime, we must stop the proliferation of faulty reports by insurance industry groups like the NICB which cause Jersey City to be redlined and residents to be saddled with unjustifiably high insurance premiums.
I ask your readers to call the NICB at 1-800-TEL-NICB and ask their representative to immediately change their reporting mechanism so that it is accurate and treats Jersey City residents in a fair and responsible manner.
Bret Schundler
Mayor