Metuchen P.D.: Report is not the whole story
Chief says slight rise in a small town makes large percentage
BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer
Patrolman David Liantonio said the numbers on the New Jersey State Police's annual Uniform Crime Report (UCR) that were released on Sept. 22 don't tell the whole picture.

Metuchen saw an increase of 31 in the crime index total from 265 incidents in 2006 to 296 incidents in 2007, which is a 22.4 percent increase in the crime rate per 1,000 people.

"Though the percentage that the crimes increased may appear large, it is important to put into context the true meaning of the statistics," Liantonio said in a report that he and Police Chief James Keane gave to the Borough Council.

The crime of robbery in the borough increased from two incidents to five incidents.

"Since we only experienced two robberies in 2006, the increased amount of five robberies that we had in 2007 was a large percentage increase," he said.

According to the UCR, the borough saw a large increase in larcenies (thefts) that jumped up by 32 incidents from 201 inci- dents in 2006 to 233 incidents in 2007.

Liantonio explained that the increase was primarily due to a large number of motor vehicle break-ins, which resulted in the theft of GPS navigational units and other items, as well as the incident involving an individual police apprehended for stealing a large number of Christmas and yard decorations during the holiday season last year.

"Thirty of the [larceny] incidents were attributed to this one incident," he said.

Liantonio added that domestic violence offenses, for which the borough saw an increase of nineteen incidents, from 110 in 2006 to 129 incidents in 2007, are out of the control of police. The police department saw an increase of approximately 60 calls for domestic violence offenses in 2007 compared to 2006.

"We can't deter these incidents from occurring, whether it is between two brothers, a boyfriend and girlfriend, or a husband and wife over various topics such as a turn in the economy," he said. "What we can and must do is respond and handle what occurs to the best of our ability after the fact. Domestic violence stems from an underlying incident, which accounted for some of the aggravated and simple assault incidents in the UCR report."
Contact Kathy Chang at
kchang@gmnews.com