Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka and Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose announce a 28 percent decrease in homicides for 2017, the lowest homicide rate in a decade.
Police also report a 26 percent drop in robberies and a 23 percent increase in guns recovered when comparing 2017 to 2016.
During 2017, police recovered 517 firearms, versus 420 last year. Citizen encounters with police during year 2017 increased by 22 percent, while complaints against police fell 20 percent when compared to last year. Complaints regarding the demeanor of our police officers fell by 18 percent this year versus last year.
The new Municipal Processing Unit, located at 480 Clinton Avenue, has been operational for nearly a year. It was opened following the 2016 closing of the old, outdated lockup, housed in the basement of the former police headquarters at 31 Green Street. A replacement for this building had been sought for some 30 years.
“Seeing a decrease in homicides and robberies is something the people of the City of Newark can be thankful for as we close 2017,” Mayor Baraka said. “These accomplishments show that our police officers are putting forth a tremendous effort to reduce crime in our neighborhoods. Another important accomplishment made this year is the use of body-worn cameras in two of our police precincts. This is an important step toward ensuring that interactions between the police and members of the community are documented as both positive and progressive. The rollout of body-worn cameras for every police precinct in the city will begin next year,” Mayor Baraka added.
“I am proud to report that complaints against police fell 20 percent during 2017, while police encounters with citizens increased 22 percent when compared to last year. In fact, complaints regarding the demeanor of our police officers fell by 18 percent this year versus last year,” Director Ambrose said. “I continue to work closely with our federal monitors to ensure compliance with the consent decree in order to improve our community trust and transparency,” he added. “Our Community ComStat meetings have been effective in alerting residents about our strategies and how we’re working to make each neighborhood safe. And our commanders and officers are working to ensure that police are engaging with community members on as many occasions as possible.”
Chief of Police Darnell Henry commends his officers for the removal of over 500 guns from our streets this year. “This reflects a 23 percent increase over 2016,” he said. “And it is the result of the tireless commitment of our men and women who put forth their energy and commitment to rid this city of illegal weapons. Our Narcotics Operation has resulted in the removal of over 18,500 decks of heroin, almost 7,000 vials of cocaine, and more than 2,200 pills from our streets this year.”
Crime Stats
Overall, although the city’s crime rate rose slightly this year—amounting to a 3 percent increase over last year—violent crime was actually reduced by 1 percent. We had increases in aggravated assaults, which are up by 23 percent; burglaries rose by 6 percent; thefts from autos went up slightly by 4 percent and auto thefts rose by 9 percent.
Newark Police reported that a 49-year old burglary suspect from Avenel, who had been arrested on 49 different occasions and convicted twelve times, was released from jail courtesy of prosecutorial screening in June.
Of arrests made this year, police report 267 individuals arrested three times when compared to 252 people arrested three times in 2016. This amounts to a 6 percent increase, which can also be attributed to Prosecutorial screening.
Noted 2017 Accomplishments:
· Narcotics Operation – Created in response to citizen complaints, resulted in 1,871 arrests since December 4th, 2017. Police recovered 125 guns, confiscated 18,431 decks of heroin, 6,931 vials of cocaine, 2,801.7 bags plastic bags of marijuana and 2,205 assorted pills since the April 21st, 2017 inception of an ongoing citywide narcotics and guns operation. The operation has resulted in the removal of $482,406.00 in street value drugs and $162,222.41 confiscated as proceeds from drug sales.
· Body Worn Camera Program – Rolled out in the 5th and 2nd Precincts, the program currently includes 132 cameras in use.
· Border Patrols - New border patrol units have been established to safeguard Newark residents and members of its neighboring cities of Irvington, Belleville and Bloomfield. Plans to establish similar partnerships with police in East Orange and Hillside are being developed for 2018.
· Illegal Dumping Task Force - This task force is aimed at identifying individuals who illegally dump debris in the City of Newark. During 2017, a total of 50 arrests have been made. Offenders are fined for the cost of cleanup, have their vehicles towed and face criminal charges, including court costs.
· Police and Fire Division Hiring and Promotions - During 2017, 209 new police officers were hired, bringing the number of officers to 1,145. This includes the largest class of 123, and the first to be trained by the New Jersey State Police Academy in Sea Girt. This year, 107 officers were promoted, 68 new firefighters were added with 8 fire chiefs and 2 battalion chiefs promoted.
· Gun Buyback Program – Held in the spring of 2017, this program resulted in 874 guns removed from our streets.
· Community Engagement - During 2017, police-community engagement involved a wide range of initiatives, from Coffee-With-A-Cop to a Boys Basketball League in the 1st Precinct. Officers are also engaging the community by hosting community safety meetings, participating in book bag drives, holiday food giveaways, Cancer Fundraising Walks, Community Cookouts, Cleanups and a host of other events.
· Citizen Clergy Public Safety Academies - Also in 2016, police re-instituted Citizen-Clergy Academy classes, graduating 209 participants. An additional 54 members will graduate in December. Two classes were held in 2016 and three in 2017.
· G.R.E.A.T. Graduation - In June, nearly 2,000 Newark Gang Resistance Education and Training graduates were received at a ceremony held at Central High School. During the 13-week course, students learned how avoid violence, gang membership and delinquency.
· Newark Cares - Since October 23rd, 2017, more than 20 children have been referred to the Newark Cares program, aimed at providing assistance to school age children exposed to trauma. The program is a tool provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to assist law enforcement members in notifying school personnel about a child’s exposure to a traumatic event involving police.
· Special Victims Unit Relocated to Shani Baraka Women’s Resource Center - In May 2017, Mayor Baraka and Director Ambrose announced the relocation of the Police Division’s Special Victim’s Unit, including the Domestic Violence Response Team and Missing Persons Unit, to the Shani Baraka Women’s Resource Center, located at 300 Clinton Avenue. The building serves as a one-stop center for women needing emergency services and information.
· Officer-In-The-Classroom - This pilot program, underway at Speedway Academy, assigns a detective from the Police Division’s Juvenile Services Section to mentor a group of 7th grade students selected by the school’s principal. The program will be expanded to other schools in 2018.
· Citizen Complaints and Contacts – Citizen Complaints of police wrongdoing fell 22 percent, with Police Demeanor Complaints down by 17 percent.
· Opening of New Municipal Processing Unit – Located at 480 Clinton Avenue, the new facility replaced an outdated lockup located at 31 Green Street, for which a replacement has been sought for more than 30 years.
· Newark Police Awarded $700K SMART Policing Grant - Newark Police received a $700,000.00 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice as part of its SMART Policing Initiative. SMART stands for “strategically managed, analysis, research driven and technology based” law enforcement activities. This initiative will aid NPD in its effort toward reducing crime and strengthening community partnerships. The grant will support collaboration between police and researchers in 39 communities to address gun violence, narcotics sales, domestic violence and issues affecting chronic violent offenders.
· Hurricane Maria Relief – In October, ten Newark Police officers and one sergeant were deployed to Puerto Rico to assist federal, Puerto Rican, and other agencies in responding to the impact of Hurricane Maria on the island. Officers were deployed in three rotating teams to cover 42 days of providing assistance with security, traffic control, and escorting supply convoys. The deployment was coordinated with the New Jersey State Police.
· Auxiliary Police Program - The Newark Auxiliary Police Program accepted 12 volunteers into the program to provide public safety support to the Newark Police Division in the areas of vehicular and pedestrian traffic control, crowd and assembly control, security of federal, state, county or local government buildings and during states of emergencies.
· Community ComStat Meetings - In 2016, Newark Police began hosting Community ComStat meetings to enable community members to witness how precinct commanders are held accountable for crime in their patrol areas. They also see how strategies and decisions are made that determine deployment strategies. Three Community ComStat meetings were held in 2017.
New for 2018
· iSMART – A real-time Situational Awareness system that provides police with actionable information every minute of the day to help proactively identify, understand, prioritize and resolve safety threats quickly, often before they impact the public.
· Announcement of Two New Police Facilities – Plans are being made to establish two new police facilities, one in the West Ward in Vailsburg and one along to Belleville line to Central Avenue. Additional information is forthcoming.
· New Public Safety Academy – To be established at the old Bergen Street School at West Bigelow and Bergen streets. This building will also house our new property and evidence room.
· Virtual Citizen Patrols - The City’s Virtual Citizen Surveillance is expected to become fully operational early next year. This system will enable residents to utilize the City’s surveillance system and report any crime or suspicious activities occurring in their neighborhoods.
· Civilization of Property Section and Municipal Holding Facilities - The civilization of these tasks, formerly done by police officers, will allow officers to be reassigned to police patrol functions.