PLUMSTED — According to information provided in the 2009 New Jersey State Police Uniform Crime Report (UCR), Plumsted has the lowest crime rate in Ocean County.
In a press release, Mayor Ron Dancer said, “The UCR was publicly released by state Attorney General Paula Dow on Nov. 18 and according to the report, Plumsted has the lowest crime rate (7.4) per 1,000 people in Ocean County, which has 33 municipalities. The second lowest crime rate per 1,000 people (9.6) was reported by Manchester, a predominately senior citizen community.”
Plumsted has a population of about 8,200.
The 2009 UCR indicates there were no murders, three rapes, one robbery and four aggravated assaults in Plumsted. In 2008 there were no murders, no rapes, one robbery and 14 assaults reported in the township.
The 2008 UCR indicated there were 14 violent crimes in Plumsted, and in 2009 there were eight violent crimes reported.
At the present time, the Plumsted Police Department has 13 uniformed officers, the highest number of officers since the department was established.
The police department is under the leadership of Sgt. Matthew Petrecca, Officer in Charge, and has successfully advanced to comply with the 112 standards that represent the best practices in law enforcement, according to the mayor.
In October, the department had a two-day on-site inspection and assessment as part of the accreditation process through the New Jersey Law Enforcement Commission, which is administered by the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, and the department is being recommended to become just the 40th police department in the state and the second in Ocean County to be state accredited and nationally recognized by the Commission on Accreditation for Law EnforcementAgencies.
“The guys are doing a great job and the residents are [doing a good job of] reporting to us when they see things,” Petrecca said. “We have better communications between the residents and the police officers. It’s phenomenal right now. It’s at an all-time high.”
Petrecca said the police department has 11 full-time officers and two special officers, and he commended them all for performing their duties well.
The complete 2009 Uniform Crime Report is available online at the New Jersey State Police Internet website at www.njsp.org.
— Dave Benjamin