So far this year, there has been a historic reduction in nonfatal shootings in Newark NJ.
The Newark police director recently stated that Newark has seen an 18-percent decrease in nonfatal shootings. Through October, the city had seen 245 people get shot, down from 298 shootings last year. Additionally, Newark police have solved nearly 40 percent of shootings this year, compared to just 13 percent last year.
The success of the department in preventing shootings owes a great deal to an increase in gun seizures and the creation of a new detective unit. The Newark Police Department has recovered more than 1,500 firearms since January 2012. Additionally, prior to this year Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio formed a unit dedicated to investigating non-fatal shootings in Newark.
The number of nonfatal shootings in Newark this year represents the city’s lowest total since 2005, when the city first began tracking nonfatal shootings.
Unfortunately, despite the positive gains made with regard to nonfatal shootings, Newark has still seen an alarming increase in homicides and robberies this year. This year the city has had 83 murders, compared to 75 at this time last year.
For more information, check out the NJ.com article entitled “Newark Police Announce ‘Historic’ Decrease in Non-Fatal Shootings.”
