2013 Crime On the Rise in Chatham Township

Editor's note: A previous version of this article used incorrect data to say the township had seen a rise in crime. The correct data is used for this article and Chatham Patch apologizes to our readers for the error.

Crime in Chatham Township went up by 50 percent in the first six months of 2013 compared to the same time period in 2012, according to the New Jersey State Police Uniform Crime Report, from 16 crimes reported in 2012 to 24 in 2013.

The largest increase was in incidents of larceny, with 20 larcenies reported so far this year compared to eight in the first six months of 2012.

Technically New Jersey law does not use the word "larceny" to describe stealing, though many other states do. Garden State statutes rather use the word "theft." The Unified Crime Report uses both.

Other than thefts, crime is falling in Chatham Township. Without the eight larceny incidents in the first six months of 2012, there would only be eight crimes total reported in that time period. Without the 20 larcenies reported between January and June 2013, there would be only four crimes reported so far this year.

The month of June as a whole was relatively quiet for township police. Crime was down 40 percent to three reported incidents in June this year, compared to five in the same month last year, with only one incident of larceny reported despite that being the most common crime reported so far this year.

June 2012 saw two incidents of simple assault and three incidents of larceny, while larceny in June 2013 saw no assaults, one forcible entry, one unlawful entry and one reported larceny.

Chatham Township is a pretty safe town, and as you can see, even one or two incidents can make a large difference in the crime statistics.