Crime & Safety
Crime Down In Wall Township in 2010, FBI says
Federal agency released national crime stats this week
Crime in Wall Township has dropped in nine of 10 categories recorded by the FBI, which released its annual crime statistics this week.
The only area where crime increased from 2009 to 2010 was motor vehicle theft. There were 13 in 2009; 14 last year.
But in every other area, crime decreased in 2010, according to the FBI.
Find out what's happening in Wallwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Violent crime decreased significantly. In 2009 there were 25 recorded instances of violent crime. In 2010, that number was 18, a decrease of 28 percent, according to the FBI.
Similarly, property crimes dropped a little more than 26 percent, from 509 instances in 2009 to 375 instances in 2010, according to the FBI.
Find out what's happening in Wallwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The biggest percentage decrease was in theft, which reduced 30 percent from 2009 to 2010. There were 263 instances of theft last year, down from 375 the previous year, according to the FBI.
Police Chief Robert Brice said while the news is encouraging, the data comparing the past five years is the guage he pays attention to.
"Itinitially, its a good sign,'' Brice said. "But what I truely look at are the five-year index offenses to really start to guage trends, which I have not seen yet.''
The crime statistics coincide with an overall reduction in Wall’s police force. Brice previously has said the department’s roster numbers 60, down from 72 in the past few years.
Below are the raw numbers provided by the FBI for Wall Township, with 2009 statistics included for comparison.
2009
Population
26,387
26,265
Violent Crime
18
25
Murder
0
0
Forcible rape
0
2
Robbery
2
3
Aggravated assault
16
20
Property crime
375
509
Burglary
98
117
Larceny-theft
263
379
Motor vehicle theft
14
13
Arson
0
0
The full versions of the FBI crime stats for 2010 can be found by clicking here.
For comparison, the FBI's 2009 crime stats are here.
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