Crime is down in North Bergen, and the Police Department is solving more of the crimes that occur. That’s what recently released statistics for 2010 say.
All major crimes, including robbery, aggravated assault, and burglary decreased in 2010, and police responded to the same number of rape and arson cases as in 2009. The department also had an increased percentage of closed cases in most categories. For the fourth year in a row, there were no murders.
According to Captain Robert Dowd, the statistics were compiled under the Uniform Crime Reports Program, a voluntary law enforcement system that is the standard for the country. Data was compiled from January through December.
Police reported 43 aggravated assaults, in comparison to last year’s 57, a 24.6 percent drop.
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43 aggravated assaults
Police reported 43 aggravated assaults in 2010, compared to 57 in 2009, a 24.6 percent drop.
“The most impressive thing about that is we solved [aggravated assault] cases 84 percent of the time,” said Capt. Gerald Sanzari.
This number was up from 2009, when the department had a 67 percent clearance rate for that kind of crime.
“Our guys are working a lot harder, putting people up in the areas where we are getting hit the most, and probably [the drop in assaults is due to] a little bit of luck with the cold weather that we had at the end of this [2010] season,” said Chief William Galvin.
No increase in rape
According to statistics, North Bergen counted five incidents of rape. Sanzari said that none of them were “physical stranger” incidents, but were mainly incidents within the home, such as domestic violence.
“Those types are very difficult for us to prevent,” said Dowd. “We’re not in everybody’s home.” He called rape a “crime of moral turpitude.”
Dowd said that one rape case was closed by arrest, one is still open, and three are “administratively closed” because the victims chose not to file complaints.
Robbery, burglary drop
In 2010, robbery dropped by 4.4 percent to 43 incidents, which Dowd said was actually a 30 percent drop if compared to two years earlier.
“It’s a very difficult crime [to solve] because a lot of times when someone is a victim of a robbery, they’re hesitant to pick out the person who just robbed them by force or by fear,” said Dowd.
Dowd credited the 63 percent clearance rate (meaning the cases are solved) for robbery to Commander of the Detective Bureau Lt. Frank Cannella and his department.
Cameras will help
He said trends in crime suggest robbery will likely go up again. But, he added, with the township Operation Center’s digital cameras now patrolling the town, police will never be able to quantify how many incidents like robbery were prevented.
Burglaries were down 12.3 percent at 136 incidents, the lowest number since Galvin became chief in 2005, when the average was 400 a year, said Dowd. The township’s clearance rate for burglary cases was at 20 percent, which Sanzari said was four times the national average.
He said the burglary cases are usually hard to solve because often there are no witnesses. The success rate was due to the department’s two police officers in the burglary unit and their increased expertise at handling DNA evidence and latent fingerprints.
“These two [police officers] have made an incredible impact,” said Dowd.
Larceny drops even as town expands
Larceny, which includes acts of theft like shoplifting and pickpocketing, dropped by 13.4 percent to 503 incidents.
“It has been going down while the town has become a magnet for big box retail stores,” said Sanzari.
Dowd said that 159 thefts occurred within stores, which police do not patrol. He also said that this type of crime, which had a clearance rate of 31 percent in 2010, is a difficult one to solve since someone breaking into a car to grab a laptop or cell phone probably won’t leave forensics behind. Police try to educate victims of these crimes so they do not happen again, said Dowd.
MV theft, arson
For motor vehicle theft, which was at 121 in 2010, a 6.2 percent decrease, the police only had a 2 percent clearance rate.
“Not to make excuses, but you have to catch them in the act of stealing the car,” said Sanzari, explaining that charging someone with receiving stolen goods does not get calculated in their statistics.
According to statistics, 2010 had five crimes of arson, the same as 2009.
Future strides
Dowd said that police hope new technology will help them solve more crimes next year.
This year will be the first time their camera system will be used in stopping and solving crimes throughout town, since employees at the Operation Center are now virtually policing the streets.
The police are also initiating a program made for them called Dashboard, which will allow them to see crimes, color-coded by type and plotted by location, so that they can quickly see trends and shift manpower to cope with any new challenges.
The township is seeking a grant to purchase a license plate reader that would scan 100 plates per minute and could be placed in a car, rigged to a camera, or set up on a tripod.
Tricia Tirella may be reached at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.