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September 6, 2006
CRIME RATE CUT IN HALF
RAHWAY —Data recently released by
the New Jersey State Police reflects a fifty percent reduction
in crime in the city from 1991 to 2005.
Statistics from the 2005 Uniform Crime
Report show that the city’s crime rate dropped 19 percent
between 2004 and 2005 alone, falling from 28.7 to 23.2.
The city’s violent crime rate also
retreated in 2005, as compared with the prior year.
These numbers continue the trend of
declining crime rates that began after Mayor James J. Kennedy
was elected in 1990 and moved to increase police manpower. In
1991, Kennedy's first year as mayor, there were a total of 1,232
index offenses, including 107 violent crimes, in Rahway for an
overall total crime rate of 48.6. The crime rate represents the
number of incidents per 1,000 people.
“These numbers are extremely encouraging
and show the results of the partnership between the men and
women of the Rahway Police Department and our residents and
business owners,” said Kennedy. “Crime is everyone’s business,
and we all have a responsibility to work towards its
elimination. Police Chief Hudak and his department deserve our
thanks for continuing to make our streets safer”
There are more police today than there were
in 1990, despite a reduction that followed President Bush's
elimination of the federal COPS program.
The COPS program, established by President
Clinton's 1994 Crime Bill, funded full time salaries for nine
police officers in Rahway.
Eight of those local positions were axed
two years ago, after the Republican administration that came
into office in 2001 did away with federal funding for the
program.
Rahway’s crime rate stands below the Union
County average of 3.5 crimes per 1,000 people, a rate that has
also decreased between 2004 and 2005.
“We have stepped up our presence around the
train station and have recently launched walking patrols
downtown that will hopefully continue the progress we’ve made,”
said Hudak. “More residents and business owners are also taking
constructive measures to safeguard their property and to be
aware when dealing with a suspicious situation.” |