Plainfield 2006 crime stats

Plainfield's crime stats are a good news/bad news story.

The FBI's annual Uniform Crime Reports stats were released yesterday, and today's papers -- except for the Ledger -- are carrying the story (see links at end).

The good news is that violent crime in Plainfield dropped in 2006, going AGAINST the national trend -- which saw a steeper than expected 2% increase.

The bad news is that OTHER CRIME didn't.

Uniform Crime Reports - 2005-2006 PLAINFIELD, NJ
	2006	2005
MURDER	10	15
RAPE	12	16
ROBBERY	260	244
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT	289	242
PROPERTY CRIME	1615	1577
BURGLARY	494	371
LARCENY	947	853
CAR THEFT	174	353

Murders dropped significantly from 2005 -- which I think was an anomalous year -- as did rapes. Perhaps surprisingly, auto thefts (though not a violent crime) dropped 50%, from 353 to 174.

The shocker comes in what DID NOT drop.

• Burglaries up 33%.
• Aggravated Assaults up 19%.
• Larceny up 11%.
• Robberies up 7%.
• Property Crimes up 2.5%.

Let's hope the violent crimes continue to drop.

The others need to, too.

---

• Courier: "Violent crimes rise 2% in U.S."
• NY Times: "Violent Crime Reported Up 2% in 2006"
• WashPost: "Violent Crime, a Sticky Issue for White House, Shows Steeper Rise"
• FBI Stats: "Uniform Crime Reports"
  

-- Dan Damon

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