The Newark Police Department releases its first annual report since 2020.
Traffic incidents are down across the board, with only one fatal crash in 2021 and one in 2022.
Lt. Andrew Rubin says the department didn’t release a report last year with a 2021 summary due to staffing shortages. And Rubin notes that staffing shortages and changes can also affect numbers in the report.
“In the report, it talks about due to staffing, the officer assigned full-time to the DEA task force was reassigned to the street crimes unit to aid in manpower," Rubin says. "So that would be a reason why the numbers may be lower than in years past because he wasn’t working full time with the DEA task force.”
Newark PD has had five officer openings since 2022, and just expanded by seven more, leaving them a total of 12 officers short right now.
The report covers crime numbers, vehicle incidents, and a wide range of training that Newark PD completes - such as response to autism, diversity in recruiting, and anti-bias and ethical decision-making.
“Over the last few years, there's been a big push on some of this stuff," Rubin says. "A lot of this stuff we’ve been doing for years and years, so it’s not new to us.”
Rubin also highlights some of the department’s community outreach programs, particularly in schools, like Cops in Schools, Girls on the Run, and summer camps that build trust between police and kids at a young age.
Since the last report, the reporting system has also changed, making year-over-year comparisons for crime more complicated. But so far in 2023, compared to the numbers in the report, Rubin says assaults are down by 66%, burglaries by 37%, and robberies by 44%.
Rubin also credits Newark’s 911 center. In 2022, it handled over 70,000 phone calls – nearly 200 a day – with around 44,000 calls for service.
And in compliance with over 200 standards, the communications division received its first accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
The full report is available at newarkpolicepress.com.
