By: Najla Alexander
Authorities in Essex County announced that the homicide rate in Essex County year to date has dropped to its lowest number in decades.
Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II, said that a review of the Uniform Crime Reporting statistics for Essex County in 2023 revealed 57 homicides reported by local police departments, compared with 78 homicides in 2022.
Spokesman Robert Florida said this represents a 27 percent drop in homicides, or 21 fewer victims killed so far this year, officials stated.
"Forty-nine of the homicides, or 86 percent, resulted in the issuance of criminal charges, helping to bring closure to crime victims," said Acting Prosecutor Stephens.
By comparison, officials say, the national clearance rate for homicide cases, based on FBI data, is 52.3 percent.
"This is by no means a victory lap since each homicide represents a loss of life, and each one pains us deeply," said Stephens.
"We will continue to work in close partnership with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to reduce all violent crime in Essex County, especially homicide."
According to officials, forty-five of the 2023 homicides were firearm-related, 8 involved stabbings, 4 were domestic-violence related, and 4 were by other means.
There were two additional homicides in the county, but since one was reported in an Essex County Park and the other on Port Authority property, they are not included in these figures, authorities say.
Officials said an additional homicide was reported in Newark in 2023, but since the victim died from an injury sustained in 2022, that also isn't included.
The Prosecutor commends the detectives and assistant prosecutors assigned to the Essex County Homicide Task Force, who work hand-in-hand on homicide investigations to bring a sense of justice to crime victims and their loved ones, officials say.
The Homicide Task Force consists of detectives assigned from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, the Essex County Sheriff's Department, the Newark Police Department, the East Orange Police Department, the Irvington Police Department, the Orange Police Department, the New Jersey State Police, and other local, state, and federal partners, all under the leadership of ECPO Chief of Detectives Mitchell McGuire.
The following homicides were reported for 2023 as compared to 2022, officials stated:
Municipality 2023 2022
Newark 43 50
East Orange 3 11
Irvington 5 9
Belleville 2 2
Bloomfield 1 1
Fairfield 0 1
West Orange 0 1
Orange 0 1
Montclair 0 1