In New Jersey, while some cities have made progress in solving crimes, the overall trend shows that a significant proportion of violent crimes and property offenses remain unsolved.
According to the FBI’s 2023 estimates, New Jersey saw 20,564 total violent crime offenses, an increase from the previous year, when 18,794 offenses were reported.
This represents a rise in the violent crime rate from 202.9 offenses per 100,000 residents in 2022 to 221.3 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023.
While homicide clearance rates are typically higher than for other types of crimes, the overall crime-solving rates in New Jersey, particularly for non-violent offenses, remain troubling.
Homicide Clearance Rates in New Jersey
Homicides tend to have higher clearance rates compared to other crimes. The FBI’s 2023 data shows an uptick in violent crime, which often includes homicides, aggravated assaults, and robberies.
While homicide clearance rates tend to be higher—due in part to the resources dedicated to solving these cases—the success in solving these crimes varies across the state. However, solving homicides does not necessarily mean addressing the broader problem of violent crime in urban areas, many of which are seeing increasing rates of unsolved offenses.
- Newark: Newark, New Jersey’s largest city, has historically struggled with high crime rates. Despite efforts by the Newark Police Department to improve crime-solving through community policing and collaboration with federal agencies, its homicide clearance rate has remained below the national average. With the overall rise in violent crime, the city’s police face challenges with understaffed investigative units and a high volume of cases. These issues make it difficult for police to solve the growing number of reported offenses.
- Camden: Camden, which restructured its police department in 2013, has seen a reduction in crime rates over the past decade. The shift to the Camden County Police Department and its focus on community policing have contributed to improvements in solving homicides and other violent crimes. However, despite these efforts, the clearance rate for non-violent crimes and many other offenses in Camden remains lower than desired. The challenges associated with property crimes and lower-priority violent offenses persist.
- Jersey City: Jersey City, with its focus on technology-driven policing and data analysis, has worked to address violent crime through tools like crime mapping and predictive policing. However, like other major urban areas, Jersey City continues to face high rates of unsolved crimes, particularly property crimes. While the homicide clearance rate has improved, many other crimes, such as robberies and assaults, remain unsolved due to a lack of leads, insufficient resources, and community reluctance to cooperate with law enforcement.
The Unsolved Majority: Violent and Property Crimes
In New Jersey, the vast majority of reported crimes—especially property crimes—remain unsolved. The clearance rate for property crimes, including burglaries, larcenies, and vehicle thefts, is typically low.
Nationally, clearance rates for property crimes hover around 18%, meaning more than 80% of these cases go unsolved.
In New Jersey, where property crimes make up a significant portion of overall reported offenses, the situation is similar, with police often unable to pursue every lead or investigate every case thoroughly due to resource constraints.
Other types of violent crime, such as aggravated assault and robbery, also face low clearance rates. In urban centers with high crime rates, solving these offenses is even more challenging.
The rise in violent crime in 2023, as seen in the increase from 18,794 to 20,564 reported violent crimes, indicates that law enforcement agencies are struggling to keep pace with the growing number of incidents. In cities with large populations and higher crime rates, police departments are often stretched thin and unable to solve many of the crimes reported.
Technology and Crime-Solving
To combat these challenges, New Jersey cities have increasingly turned to technology to assist with crime-solving.
ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection system used in places like Newark and Camden, is supposed to enable police to respond quickly to shootings and collect evidence that may aid investigations. Advancements in forensic technology, such as DNA testing, have helped solve some cold cases and improve clearance rates for homicides and other serious offenses.
However, while these technological advancements have assisted in some cases, they are not a panacea. Corporate providers end up making more money than the communities save.
Many crimes, particularly property crimes, do not have the evidence or leads necessary for resolution, and many cases are closed without an arrest or resolution.
Predictive policing, which uses data analytics to anticipate where crimes are likely to occur, has also been introduced in some areas, but its effectiveness in solving crimes remains limited, particularly in high-volume, low-solution cases like property crimes.
The Role of Community Cooperation
Another key factor affecting crime-solving rates is community cooperation. In many cities, residents are reluctant to speak with police or cooperate with investigations due to distrust, fear of retaliation, or past negative interactions with law enforcement. This lack of cooperation can hinder police efforts to solve crimes, particularly violent offenses.
Cities that have implemented community policing strategies—where officers engage directly with residents and build relationships—have seen some success in improving cooperation and solving crimes.
Camden’s efforts to build trust between the community and police through neighborhood engagement have helped reduce crime rates, but challenges remain in other cities where police-community tensions continue to affect cooperation.
In cities with high crime rates and strained relationships between residents and law enforcement, the lack of community cooperation remains a significant barrier to solving crimes.
Resource Constraints and Staffing Issues
One of the most significant challenges facing law enforcement in New Jersey is the shortage of resources. Many police departments, particularly in smaller cities, have faced budget cuts and staffing shortages that have resulted in fewer investigators assigned to homicide and other violent crime units. As violent crime continues to rise, the lack of personnel dedicated to solving these crimes has become a critical issue.
New Jersey’s larger cities, like Newark and Jersey City, also struggle with understaffed police departments. With increasing numbers of violent crimes reported in 2023, police departments are overwhelmed by the volume of cases, which further limits their ability to solve many offenses.
The current lack of Uniform Crime Reports for 2024 means that it is difficult to evaluate the full extent of the trends in crime-solving over the last year. The most recent data available is for the last quarter of 2023, and until new reports are published, it remains unclear whether the state’s crime-solving rates have improved or worsened.
While some New Jersey cities have made strides in improving crime-solving rates, the overall trend is concerning.
The rise in violent crime in 2023—along with ongoing challenges in solving non-violent crimes like property theft—illustrates the difficulties law enforcement agencies face in addressing the full scope of criminal activity.
Despite the use of new technologies and shifts to community policing, the vast majority of crimes reported to police in New Jersey, particularly property crimes and assaults, remain unsolved.
As police departments continue to face resource shortages, staffing issues, and challenges with community cooperation, it remains unclear how much progress can be made in improving crime-solving rates.
With no crime reports for 2024 yet available, the state’s ability to reverse these trends will depend on continued investment in law enforcement resources, community engagement, and innovative crime-solving strategies.