The Coaster

Asbury Park Police Chief Mark Kinmon

Asbury Park police this week released crime figures that show an 18.1 percent reduction in crime in 2007, compared to 2006 figures.

With two less murders and reductions in other areas, with the exception of rape, the total number of crimes committed were 1,513, down from 1,848 in 2006.

The figures are even more impressive compared to the 1997 figures, when the number of offenses totaled 2,071.

Police Chief Mark Kinmon attributes the reduced crime figures to the addition in December of five officers bringing the total number of officers to 90. It is the highest number of police officers in the department in more than a decade.

In 1997 there were 64 police officers and 82 in 2006.

Having 90 officers we are in the position to be able to put the right officers in positions where they are needed the most, the chief said.

Kinmon said the increased staff allows the department to pursue additional strategies.

It gives us more opportunities to be able to do some things now, he said.

One of the areas where a difference can be seen is the amount of street level drug activity.

Kinmon said having plain clothes officers on the street leads to more arrests.

And although lack of cooperation from those affected by street crime is a frequent complaint of law enforcement, Kinmon said his department has street contacts that have made making arrests a reality.

In 2007 the Street Crime Unit, which was increased from four to 10 officers, made 899 arrests.

Were not trying to fool anyone into thinking its all over, he said.

Getting guns off the streets, said Kinmon, has also been a big part of the crime reduction.

Officers confiscated 61 guns during arrests last year.

Getting the guns off the street prevented a lot of crime, Kinmon said.

However, guns were used in aggravated assault incidents 15 more times in 2007 than 2006 increasing from 25 to 40.

One area where crime increased was in drug sales.

Arrests for the sale of heroin and cocaine increased by 34 with 62 incidents in 2007 and only 28 in 2006.

Marijuana sales arrests also increased from two to 15.

Arrests for possession of heroine and cocaine, however decreased in 2007 to 396, from 505 in 2006.

Another statistic Kinmon is proud to report is that no officers or civilians were injured during police activity in 2007.

Total number of calls for service were also down from 38,167 in 2006 to 35,144 in 07.

Concerning motor vehicle reports, although there were two fatal accidents in 2007 with none in 2006, the total number of incidents involving motor vehicles declined on 07 to 655, from 754 in 06.

Drivers arrested for driving while intoxicated remained steady throughout the 10 year period with 29 in 1997, 34 in 2006 and 32 in 2007.

The highest number of DWI arrests was in 2005, with 36.

Another addition this year is having one officer assigned to the Monmouth County Prosecutors Officer to investigate gang related crime and one assigned to the F.B.I.s gang task force.

Thats helping, Kinmon said.

Kinmon said some of the long term investigations resulted in significant arrests in gang related crime.

The department also hired a retired Long Branch police officer, Wayne Layton, two years ago to do daily crime analysis.

We call it crime mapping, Kinmon said.

Were not sitting back waiting for these things to happen, we are identifying problems early.

Anywhere we see activity, thats where were going.
Contact Joanne Papainni at joanne@thecoaster.net.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 4:49 pm and is filed under Asbury Park, Police Blotter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.