This month, the WRI Municipal Infographics for Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties were all updated to include 2013 FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data and the 2014 crime data will be updated soon. Based on the 2013 UCR Data, the South Jersey municipalities with the highest crime rates are Avalon Boro (175.7), Sea Isle City (170.6), and Wildwood City (145.1), all in Cape May County.
The three South Jersey municipalities with the lowest crime rates are New Hanover Township (1.4), Medford Lakes Boro (2.9), and Chesterfield (4.4), all in Burlington County. The municipalities with the highest increase in crime between 2012 and 2013 are Sea Isle City (68.9%) in Cape May County, Audubon Park Boro (47.6%) in Camden County, and Stow Creek Township (41.2%) in Cumberland County. The municipalities with the greatest decrease in crime between 2012 and 2013 are Medford Lakes Boro (59.7%) in Burlington County, and Hi-Nella Boro (54.9%) and Woodlynne Boro (52.9%), both in Camden County.
Between 2012 and 2013, the crime rate for NJ has decreased by 6.8%. While six of our seven focal counties in South Jersey also exhibited decreases in crime ranging from 3.4% in Atlantic to 12.2% in Camden, Cumberland County’s crime rate increased by 0.8%. It is also important to note that in 2013, Cumberland County had the highest crime rate in South Jersey at 48.5.