Committee receives report
of last year’s activity
By:Alec Moore
According to the Hillsborough Police Department’s 2002 crime report, Hillsborough was a safer community last year than in 2001 but police were busy responding to more violations of township ordinances.
"Crime rates have remained fairly stable," said Hillsborough police Lt. Paul Kaminsky. "For the most part, we haven’t seen a tremendous overall increase or decrease."
All in all, however, the department did receive 537 more reports of criminal offenses in 2002 than it did for the preceding year, from 5,033 in 2001 to 5,570 in 2002.
But when broken down, most violent crimes either dropped slightly or stayed flat: assaults dropped 20 percent (253 in 2001 to 200 last year), while reports of rape and robbery were the same (six rapes reported in both years, and three robberies).
Sexual assault reports dropped significantly, from 11 in 2001 to four last year.
No murders were reported in 2002.
Nonviolent crime categories were relatively stable, with a total of 1,738 reports in 2002, compared to 1,703 in 2001.
Police responded to 11 more burglaries, three more arsons and 17 more cases of larceny in 2002 than in 2001. Motor vehicle thefts were down slightly for 2002, with 11 being reported compared to 15 for the year before.
Reported cases of drug abuse (57 in 2001, 62 last year), disorderly conduct (721 and 713) and criminal mischief (390 and 397) remained fairly stagnant.
The area of greatest increase for the township relates to growth in the township. Police issued 36 percent more ordinance violations in 2002 than in 2001 1,794 in 2001 to 2,444 for 2002. Most of those cases are the result of repeated false alarms, either car, burglar or carbon monoxide alarms, a consequence of more homes and businesses in town. According to Lt. Kaminsky, the department doesn’t issue citations unless police receive a number of false alarm reports.
Police also responded to more pet violations (licensing and leash complaints) and illegal all-terrain vehicles last year.

