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An uptick in crimes in Ridgewood, but village is still on safest lists

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An uptick in crimes in Ridgewood, but village is still on safest lists
Thursday February 13, 2014, 10:57 AM
BY  DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

Ridgewood witnessed an increase in overall crimes in 2012, according to preliminary statistics for the state’s annual Uniform Crime Report (UCR), but others maintain the village’s reputation as one of the safest municipalities in the country.

The UCR is based on information provided to the New Jersey State Police by individual law enforcement agencies. In addition to statistics, the report also calculates crime rates and trends.

Representatives at the state police’s Uniform Crime Reporting Unit noted this week that the 2012 UCR has not yet been released, and statistics compiled and posted on the AG’s office website are still considered unofficial. The UCR has historically been released in the late fall with the previous year’s data, but state police have said they were behind schedule.

Agencies have already submitted 2013 crime data, though the state has not yet conducted a review of that information.

But based on the 2012 numbers, Ridgewood reported 346 incidents of crime in 2012, 25 percent more than the amount filed in 2011.

The most recent UCR statistics also show the total number of violent crimes in Ridgewood increased to 11 in 2012, up from eight incidents in 2011. In 2012, seven assaults, three robberies and one rape were reported.

The AG’s office defines a violent crime as any murder, rape, aggravated assault or robbery.

Non-violent crimes in Ridgewood also spiked through the course of 2012 – burglaries jumped by 11 percent while the number of reported larcenies increased by 45 percent, with 210 cases in 2012 compared with 144 the previous year.

The police department also recorded the theft of eight motor vehicles in 2012, three more than in 2011. Ridgewood’s 2012 reports buck the trend of decreasing overall crime.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/245379801_An_uptick_in_crimes_in_Ridgewood__but_village_is_still_on_safest_lists.html#sthash.BRJlIGq0.dpuf