Full Notification

We are happy to share some great news with the citizens and business owners of Newark. Our 2013 Part 1 Crime Data was recently completed and reported to the state, which includes serious offenses such as, homicide, rape, robbery, arson, assaults, burglaries, theft, and auto thefts. We are extremely pleased that our Part 1 crimes overall were down 21% from 2012. Our residential burglaries were down 51% and total burglaries were down 41%! (Please see below for the full comparison list). We couldn’t have done it without you and all the support and partnerships we have from our residents and businesses in Newark. We would like to acknowledge several groups of people who have had a tremendous impact in reducing the crime levels this past year.

We want to thank our Community Engagement Unit which includes all our Neighborhood Watch groups and volunteers, including those involved in our RAVEN and Graffiti Abatement programs for their outstanding work. Their active involvement within our community during 2013 was one of the most significant changes to reducing crime in our community. The police department is receiving more information, calls of suspicious activities, and requests for extra patrols than we have in years. Many residents are working together to watch for crime in their neighborhoods, as well as installing high tech surveillance and alarm systems. This active participation and more timely response to suspicious behavior and activities in our community have allowed the police department to respond quicker and prevent more crime before it occurs.

Our Street Enforcement Team (SET) has continued to focus on gang related issues, but has also broadened their enforcement efforts to include residential burglaries, illegal narcotic related crimes, and areas within the city where criminal activities have spiked. This attention in other areas has enabled us to make several significant narcotic related arrests, recover many stolen firearms, and temporarily take many criminals, particularly those who have a long history of burglary, theft, and drug abuse off of our streets.

The City of Newark invested in a new Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management System this past year as well. This new system has allowed officers to spend more time deterring crime and less time report writing. Additionally, the new system has allowed us to focus our resources identified by accurate and timely crime reporting and analysis, into the neighborhoods impacted by recent crimes. Our patrol staffing, which has been enhanced due to a new team policing schedule, has enabled us to increase staffing during peak times identified by our statistical data.

Additionally, a huge thank you to all the officers who have rapidly embraced our recent technology and scheduling changes. All officers have increased their productivity levels; arrests are up, contacts and other self-initiated activities are up, and as a result, crime in most areas is down. We are seeing a real decline in burglaries and violent crimes and will continue to work to see that trend continue.

Finally as a reminder, we are very aware that our citizens play a critical role in creating a safe environment by observing and reporting suspicious and criminal activity to the police; however, we recommend that citizens do not have any direct verbal or physical involvement with suspicious persons or those who are committing crimes. Although we encourage the Newark community to record the details of what they observe and to quickly report those details to police, your personal safety is paramount. This type of community involvement and partnership has proven to be a very effective crime prevention tool. Citizens act as the eyes and ears of the community, as well as the extended eyes and ears of the Newark Police Department. Thank you for being a force multiplier in our efforts to provide professional police services and safety to our community.