LAWRENCE: Crime stats show 3 percent increase

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Lawrence Township’s four-year streak of declining crime has ended as the number of serious offenses increased by 3 percent in 2008, according to statistics compiled by the Lawrence Township Police Department.
    The 2008 annual crime report, released to the Township Council last month, showed there were 1,102 major crimes last year as compared to 1,073 in 2007. The crimes of murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny and theft, car theft and arson are classified as major crimes and reported to the New Jersey State Police.
    “We haven’t seen a large increase in crime, but 3 percent is an increase,” Chief of Police Daniel Posluszny said. “We have to be cognizant of it, but it’s not a large increase. It’s going to fluctuate.”
    While an increase in crime is “not acceptable,” Chief Posluszny said, the number of major crimes reported in 2008 is much less than the number of reported incidents in the early 1990s. At that time, the number of major crimes hovered around 1,800 incidents annually, he said.
    Meanwhile, a review of the annual crime report showed for the seventh year in a row, there were no murders in Lawrence. The last murder occurred in 2001.
    But the number of reported assaults, burglaries, thefts and arsons increased. There were 175 assaults reported in 2008 as compared to 159 in 2007. Burglaries increased to 110 in 2008, up from 96 in 2007. Arsons doubled — from four in 2007 to eight last year. There were five more thefts in 2008 as compared to 2007 — 735 incidents, up from 730.
    However, the number of reported rapes and car thefts declined — from 13 rapes in 2007 to nine in 2008. There were 52 car thefts in 2007, but only 46 last year. The number of robberies held steady at 19 each in 2007 and 2008.
    Chief Posluszny said some of the reported assaults involved incidents of domestic violence, but the overall number of reported domestic violence incidents — which is not included in the annual report — had declined.
    The number of domestic violence incidents declined from 216 incidents in 2007 to 169 in 2008, Chief Posluszny said. The police typically investigate 200 to 250 domestic violence incidents annually, he said.
    Deputy Chief of Police Joseph Prettyman said the decline in domestic violence is “significantly lower.”
    “Maybe it’s just awareness (of the seriousness of the crime),” Deputy Chief Prettyman said. “That’s what we are hoping. The police can make an arrest at the scene without witnessing (an incident).”
    Although the number of arsons doubled last year, Chief Posluszny was quick to point out none involved fire bombings of residences. He said he could not remember the last time there was a “real arson.”
    Categorizing a fire as an arson or a criminal mischief incident depends on where it occurred, Deputy Chief Prettyman said. If someone set fire to a garbage can in the middle of a parking lot, it would be considered criminal mischief. But if it occurred immediately adjacent to a building, it would be called arson, he said.
    There have been several instances of garbage cans being set on fire in Village Park, and three cars were set on fire at the Lawrence Square Village condominium complex off Quakerbridge Road, Deputy Chief Prettyman said.
    “(The arsons are) not lighting people’s homes on fire,” he said. “It’s mostly Dumpster fires next to a residence or an apartment building, (but) it’s wrong, no matter what. We take it very seriously.”
    Chief Posluszny said there was a year-over-year increase in burglaries and larcenies, but he added, “a small amount of people can do an inordinate amount” of crime. The police are concerned about the burglaries, he said.
    Burglaries and thefts are generally crimes of opportunity, Chief Posluszny said. Sometimes, people leave valuable items in their cars and forget to lock the cars. A thief may see the item and take it, he said.
    And although someone might question whether the increase in burglaries and thefts is related to worsening economic conditions, the police chief said he has not found a correlation between the economy and the number of reported burglaries and thefts.
    “It happens if the economy is good or bad,” Chief Posluszny said.