ELIZABETH—Elizabeth continued to struggle with rising crime rates, while the rest of the Garden State saw a decline for the sixth year in a row, according to Attorney General Anne Millgram.
Violent crime in Elizabeth increased by 4.4 percent in 2007 compared to a year earlier, while municipal police manpower slipped from 357 to 349. The total number of police department personnel fell from 491 to 469.
There were 16 murders in the city during 2007, compared with 17 in each of the two prior years. In 2008, nine people have been killed in Elizabeth.
The number of rapes reported to police dipped from 35 to 25, but there were 612 armed robberies in 2007, compared with 539 in 2006.
Overall, there were 6,275 crimes reported in 2007, including 945 violent offenses and 5,330 property crimes. That’s up from 5,772 in 2006, when there were 905 violent crimes and 4,867 other offenses.
Auto theft in Elizabeth rose from 1,237 in 2006 to 1,357 last year, an increase of almost ten percent.
Burglaries, arson, bias crimes and other thefts also saw increases in the city while statewide the number of such offenses decreased.
