From Press Reports
November 12, 2007

Led by a sharp drop in reported crime in Trenton (NJ) that officials attribute to solid police work, Mercer County last year outpaced a statewide decline in crime.

Under the leadership of Conference President Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer, Trenton police reported a 26 percent drop in total crimes last year from a four-decade low in 2005. The city also had the largest percentage drop in reported crimes of any of the state’s 15 largest urban municipalities. Trenton Police Director Joseph Santiago has said the decline was due to numerous new approaches to policing, including putting more officers on the streets.

Violent crime dropped by 11.8 percent in Mercer County from 1,994 incidents in 2005 to 1,783 last year, according to the report. Nonviolent crime dropped by 11.5 percent.

Local law enforcement officials attributed Mercer County’s decline to good police work and cooperation across municipal borders.

Across New Jersey, drug or gang-related crime accounted for 45 – or 11 percent – of the murders, according to the report. Of the murder victims, 37 percent were in their 20s, while 14.3 percent were between 15 and 19 years old.

Guns were used in 67 percent of the state’s murders and 31 percent of the offenders were friends or acquaintances of the victims.