Keeping with a pattern of falling crime rates throughout the county and state, Rahway’s crime rate dipped 9 percent last year, according to the state’s annual Uniform Crime Report (UCR), released last week.
Tag Archives: crime
Police center to take over Beverage Shop
A police community assistance center is in the works for the former Beverage Shop building on East Cherry Street. The city purchased the property from the Rahway Center Partnership (RCP) this past spring.
“This project is absolutely about involving the community in helping us take what is currently an underutilized and neglected structure and restoring life back into it,” said Police Chief John Rodger, for however long the building is available to use, whether a year or five years.
He hopes to have the exterior “looking like something” by November with the building functional after the new year. The plan for the nearly 2,000-square-foot interior includes a reception area, work area, large conference room or classrooms where programs could be run and a few smaller conference rooms for meetings and counseling needs. “The floor plan is evolving and we will know better as the cleanup continues,” Rodger said.
Routine patrols will be able to complete many aspects of police reporting that currently occurs at police headquarters and non-patrol staff will be assigned to do a portion of their work week there. The center is intended to be a place for “positive police activities,” said Rodger, though he declined to call it a substation. He expects the Juvenile Bureau will be there often as “it’s the perfect place for meeting with parents and children away from the traditional police environment.”
Other uses might include neighborhood watch and business watch groups, child seat inspections and installations, community relations functions, bicycle registration and youth academy, among others. The chief anticipates staffing the location from about 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. while patrol staff will be able to — and encouraged — to use the facility around the clock.
Ideally, Rodger would like to replace the facade with something more modern, similar to Park Square or Dornoch’s renovations on a Main Street property. It all depends on cost, according to Rodger, since the project must be done as economically as possible though it’s still unclear at this point how much it might cost. The department has applied to use some forfeiture funds, which can be used under specific rules, and Rodger said some local businesses already have pledged support, including RSI Bank. “We will be looking toward other business leaders to donate or provide in-kind services to complete this project,” he said.
Related:
Star-Ledger/nj.com story
Home News-Tribune/mycentraljersey.com story
Original RPD press release
Robbery, larceny spike but overall crime rate flat
Robbery and larceny spiked last year, but most other crime remained below the five-year average as Rahway’s crime rate dipped. Released last month, the state’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) compiles town-by-town data from 2008.
Continue reading Robbery, larceny spike but overall crime rate flat
Crime data nudges upward, barely
Reported crimes in Rahway were up, barely, and in only a few categories gauged in the latest state Uniform Crime Report (UCR), which reports 2007 data. The biggest increase was within larceny — up 7 percent from 433 to 463 reported incidents — and the crime rate crept up from 25.8 to 26.7. Still, the rate is far lower than it was five and 10 years ago: check out some historical data.
According to Police Chief John Rodger, a serial robber who also hit a few
neighboring towns was responsible for several robberies. He said the city’s clearance rate (which isn’t reflected in the UCR but takes into account various factors involved in a crime’s solvability) is very good and Rahway compares favorably to other cities in the county, such as Linden, Union and Hillside. “Economy has lots to do with these numbers, and has had an impact and will continue to do so until it turns around,” Rodger said.
neighboring towns was responsible for several robberies. He said the city’s clearance rate (which isn’t reflected in the UCR but takes into account various factors involved in a crime’s solvability) is very good and Rahway compares favorably to other cities in the county, such as Linden, Union and Hillside. “Economy has lots to do with these numbers, and has had an impact and will continue to do so until it turns around,” Rodger said.
Rahway’s overall crime rate (26.7) is the sixth highest in among the 21 Union County towns, but the biggest dropoff occurs after the top four (Elizabeth, Plainfield, Linden and Hillside), all of which are 37.1 and higher. The overall crime rate in Union County was essentially the same as 2006 (29.4) while 13 of the the county’s 21 towns saw some kind of increase in their numbers. The median rate within the county belonged to Clark (15.5).
For the entire state UCR, click here. For what blog readers think about crime in Rahway, see our poll from February (scroll past Marisa Tomei) that asked, “Do you feel safe walking downtown?”
East Milton musings
East Milton Avenue looks like it’s been paved and ready for striping. Has anyone else noticed what appear to be video cameras atop the new traffic signals (left) at Main and Fulton streets, along East Milton?
6/27 UPDATE: Nope, they’re not video cameras but sensors to detect traffic patterns and adjust the timing of lights accordingly. Thanks to all who emailed/commented to clarify.
Seems like that’s business as usual these days, according to this recent MSNBC report:
“Even after a damning report by the head of London’s extensive surveillance network and with little evidence that the systems work — police in many cities are trying to add thousands more cameras to their networks.
“Officials in many cities are eager to take advantage of money from state and federal security agencies to install the cameras on street corners and intersections.”
Speaking of East Milton Avenue, is it just me or has it become a virtual wind tunnel on that side of the hotel? I noticed it back in May during Hot Rods & Harleys, and I can’t recall it ever being that windy before the 16-story Carriage City Plaza was erected. Imagine if the “second tower” envisioned across the street ever materializes…
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The coffee shop formerly known as Moca Motion Cafe looks like it’s open for business, although the Moca Motion Cafe signs are still there, in addition to a new Express Cafe sign in the window. Either way, the interior looks awfully similar to what I remember when the previous tenant was there.
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The next reader to subscribe by email to Rahway Rising will be No. 100. That might sound like I’m about to give something away at least something of monetary value — what, my gratitude isn’t enough for you anymore?!? — but I’m not. It’s just a nice round number. It’s been an exciting week, as we hit a new high for daily visits on Tuesday (186) and then again on Wednesday (201).
Thanks to everyone for reading, subscribing, supplying tips of all kinds, and commenting, etc. Keep it all coming, especially suggestions for a new poll question (though it sounds like I’m the only one clamoring for that to return…).
Spreading the tax burden
I’ve been meaning to post about this for a few weeks but it’s gone through a number of drafts trying to avoid getting bogged down in a lot of numbers. There haven’t been many meetings the last couple of weeks, so now is as good a time as any.
During the budget process this year, city officials boasted about the increase in “net valuation taxable.” That’s basically the value of the entire city when it comes to taxing property and it rose $10 million, or about 0.67 percent, to $1.517 billion. The bulk of the $10-million hike was attributed to several projects. City officials provided this breakdown of main additions to the tax rolls for 2007, with the following improvement values added to existing land assessments:
Riverwalk [32 units] $4,930,800
Best Western Motel (Route 1), $2,149,600
Mini-U-Storage [partial assessment], $1,223,600
Quick Chek (Route 1), $523,000
Sterling Place [three homes] $477,100
Luciano’s [14 apts, partial assessment], $199,300
Subtotal $9,503,400
Those figures are strictly for building improvements and don’t include the separate land assessments. The partial assessments are just that, as they weren’t completely done at the time assessments were made. What’s it all mean for taxpayers? Well, the idea is to keep the valuation going up so there’s more places from which to collect taxes.
For instance, when completed, Riverwalk is expected to be assessed at more than $14 million. Under the 2008 budget, with a municipal tax rate of $1.713 per $100 of assessed value, that would have equaled about $250,000 in municipal property taxes. [Don’t forget, there’s also the county tax rate (about a 1/4) and school board tax rate (1/2) that make up the total property taxes.]
Does that mean taxes go down for everyone else? Ideally perhaps, but this year’s increase was eaten up within the municipal budget. Tax Assessor Bill Marbach estimated that without the $10-million rise in the assessed values, the tax rate might have gone up about 3 cents rather than remaining the same this year. For an average assessed home in Rahway ($133,000), a 3-cent hike in the tax rate would have meant $40 [$0.03 x ($133,000/100) = $39.9 — got that?]. For a home assessed at $500,000, the effect would be closer to $150 [$0.03 x ($500,000/100) = $150].
New developments and properties will add to the tax rolls but won’t they also in theory put more pressure on services, like the Police Department? When I posed that question to City Administrator/Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier earlier this year, he said he doesn’t expect to hire more cops, but instead use the existing squad more efficiently.
Four new police officers were sworn in earlier this year, replacing retiring officers, with another expected this summer that will bring the police force to its full complement of 80. The city last summer approved a new seven-year contract (through June 2013) with PBA Local 31, which represents Rahway police officers.
Under the agreement, officers are scheduled to receive 4-percent annual pay hikes, but new hires also will begin to contribute to health benefits, be enrolled in a Point Of Service health plan, and no longer receive longevity pay. The clothing allowance was raised to $1,000. The starting salary as of July 2007 was $33,280 and by 2012 will be $40,490.
Rahway welcomes Hollywood
In the spirit of tonight’s 80th annual Oscars, as well as Rahway’s own Hollywood presence last week, we present our new poll question, below right. Be sure to cast your vote, and add your two cents in the comments section.
Rahway’s ‘Ring of Steel’?
London has its “Ring of Steel,” New York City is looking into getting its own version, and now a pilot program will bring surveillance cameras to downtown Rahway, starting with the Rahway Center Partnership offices.
The city’s crime rate has dropped considerably in the last decade, according to data from the Uniform Crime Report (UCR), taking a similar pattern to countywide numbers. Compared to 10 years ago (39.1 incidents reported per 1,000 residents), the crime rate in 2006 was down by a third, and has dropped each year since 2001. To put it in perspective, Rahway’s 25.8 rate in 2006 was similar to Union County’s overall figure (25.3), slightly higher than Roselle (23.6), but lower than Union (28.7). It varied compared to its immediate neighbors: Clark (14.7), Linden (32.9), Edison (26.1) and Woodbridge (31.0).
Given all those data, there are still more than a few people I know who aren’t comfortable walking
downtown at night. Will cameras help? If something were to occur, you’d think there would be a better chance of getting it on video, but the NFL’s instant replay hasn’t exactly solved every problem. Cameras won’t be much help in the dark, and they didn’t stop the Hat Bandit. At least taxpayers aren’t picking up the tab on this one. It’ll be interesting to see the results of the pilot effort.With cameras also popping up at intersections to catch motorists running red lights, it seems as if life is getting a little more Orwellian every day. A step closer to life imitating art? And how about the acting police chief’s sounding like a character right out of 1984: “It’s only scary if you have something to hide.”
What do you think? Will cameras help?