The Newark Experience

Current Crime Statistics

The most current Newark crime statistics--city-wide and by precinct.

Crime Trends From the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports

Bureau of Justice Statistics database allows you to generate crime trends by municipality since 1985.

Newark Crime Map

Reported crimes, by crime and location, for the last two months. From www.spotcrime.com Other time periods available with (free) registration.

Newark Neighborhood Crime Maps, Statistics, Local Reports and Alerts

Reported crimes, by crime and location, for 20 Newark neighborhoods.

Report of the Safer Newark Council, 2016: A Call to Action. Executive Summary. June 2016.

Study analyzing 8 years of Newark crime data and recommending strategies for the reduction of violent crimes.

“When someone is in a safe place, I believe that your mind rests:” Emotional Security Amid Community Violence: A Cross-national Study with Youth in Newark, New Jersey, USA, and San Pedro Sula, Cortés, Honduras

Franklin Moreno, Sarah Hoegler Dennis, E. Mark Cummings, and Paul Boxer. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 99, March 2024, Article 101941

"This qualitative study is the first phase of research on emotional security across four contexts of community violence: policing, gangs, family, and other neighborhood residents." Rutgers-restricted Access

Community Violence, PTSD, Hopelessness, Substance Use, and Perpetuation of Violence in an Urban Environment

Uma Raman et. al. Community Mental Health Journal 57(4), May 2021, pp. 622-630

"We investigated the relationships among chronic violence exposure, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, hopelessness, substance use, and perpetuation of violence to facilitate the development of trauma-related interventions for residents of Newark, NJ. A convenience sample of Newark residents (N = 153) was recruited from community centers during various events in 2016–2017." Rutgers-restricted Access

Crime Gun Trace Reports (2000) Newark, NJ

Washington, DC: Dept. of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, 2000.

Firearms Trace Data: New Jersey - 2021

Newark has the largest number of firearms recovered in New Jersey.

Measuring the Temporal Stability of Near-Repeat Crime Patterns: A Longitudinal Analysis

David Hatten and Eric L. Piza. Crime and Delinquency 67(4), May 2021, pp. 498-522

"This study investigates the temporal stability of identified near-repeat robbery patterns in Newark, New Jersey." Rutgers-restricted Access

The Effect of Various Police Enforcement Actions on Violent Crime: Evidence From a Saturation Foot-Patrol Intervention

Eric L. Piza, Preeti Chauhan, and Jeremy Travis. Criminal Justice Policy Review 29(6-7), July 2018, pp. 611-629

"The current study tests the crime prevention effect of different police actions conducted during a foot-patrol saturation initiative in Newark, New Jersey. Police actions were categorized into two typologies: enforcement actions (i.e., arrests, quality of life summonses and field interrogations) and guardian actions (i.e., business checks, citizen contacts, bus checks, and taxi inspections)...Findings suggest that guardian actions had a greater crime prevention effect than enforcement actions on crime occurrence. Rutgers-restricted Access

When Crime Moves Where Does It Go? Analyzing the Spatial Correlates of Robbery Incidents Displaced by a Place-based Policing Intervention

David Hatten and Eric L. Piza. Journal of Research In Crime and Delinquency 59(1), February 2022, pp. 128-162.

" Objective: Examine the place-based correlates of robbery activity displaced by a foot-patrol intervention in Newark, NJ." Rutgers-restricted Access

Shooting on the Street: Measuring the Spatial Influence of Physical Features on Gun Violence in a Bounded Street Network

Jie Xu and Elizabeth Griffiths. Journal of Quantitative Criminology 33(2), June 2017, pp. 237-253.

"Treating disaggregated point locations as the unit-of-analysis, the spatial influence of various physical features of place on all 2012 incidents of gun violence in Newark, NJ is estimated along a street network plane rather than a planar plane, and using a continuous operationalization of street network distances as opposed to Euclidean or Grid distances. Network-based computation methods clarify the path distances over which physical features of place, or shooting attractors, exert a significant spatial influence on gun violence...Findings show that liquor stores, grocery stores, bus stops, and residential foreclosures are shooting attractors in Newark, NJ. The magnitude of spatial influence is strongest in the immediate vicinity of each physical feature, and declines precipitously thereafter; yet the nature and strength of the decay varies by feature." Rutgers-restricted Access

The Routine Activities of Violent Crime Places: A Retrospective Case-Control Study of Crime Opportunities on Street Segments

Cory Schnell, Leigh Grossman, and Anthony A. Braga. Journal of Criminal Justice 60, January 2019, pp. 140-153

"This study uses a retrospective case-control research design to isolate the influence of routine activities variables independent of neighborhood effects in explaining variation between street segments with low and high trajectories of outdoor street violence in Newark, New Jersey. Group-based trajectory models were estimated to characterize longitudinal patterns of incidents reported to the Newark Police Division from 2008 to 2013." Rutgers-restricted Access

Measuring the Effect Heterogeneity of Police Enforcement Actions Across Spatial Contexts

Eric L. Piza and Andrew M. Gilchrist. Journal of Criminal Justice 54, January 2018, pp. 76-87.

"This study tests whether the effect of police actions is influenced by similar crime generators and attractors (CGAs) that influence crime. Said differently, in recognition that the presence of CGAs presents higher risk of crime at certain places, we test whether CGAs similarly create a situation where specific police enforcement actions are more effective at certain types of places than others. Using longitudinal logistic regression models incorporating panel data, we measure the effect of various police enforcement actions on gun violence in Newark, NJ." Rutgers-restricted Access

Crime Control Effects of a Police Substation Within a Business Improvent District: A Quasi-experimental Synthetic Control Evaluation

Eric L. Piza, Andrew P. Wheeler, Nathan T. Connealy, and Shun Q. Feng. Criminology & Public Policy 19(2), May 2020, pp. 653-684

"The current study analyzes the crime reduction effect of a police substation operating within a business improvement district in Newark, New Jersey. Synthetic control methods were used to create a control group that was statistically equivalent to the cumulative street units in the target area. Significant reductions of burglary and motor vehicle theft were observed in the target area as compared with a synthetic control area over the postintervention period. Robbery and theft from auto, conversely, suffered from spatial displacement." Rutgers-restricted Access

Illegal Firearm Availability and Violence: Neighborhood-Level Analysis

Sung-suk Violet Yu, Daiwon Lee, and Jesenia M. Pizarro. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 35(19/20), October 2020, pp. 3986-4012.

"The present study examines how illegal firearm availability (IFA) is related to firearm violence at the neighborhood level. We analyzed 3 years (from 2005 to 2007) of recovered firearm and violent index crime data from Newark, New Jersey." Rutgers-restricted Access

Evidence on the impact of the Prudential Center on Crime in Downtown Newark

Gian Maria Campedelli, Eric L. Piza, Alex R. Piquero, and Justin Kurland. Journal of Experimental Criminology June 2023.

"Evaluate the effects that Prudential Center events had on crime in downtown Newark from 2007 to 2015 in terms of incident counts and spatial characteristics."

Arena-based Events and Crime: An Analysis of Hourly Robbery Data

Justin Kurland. Applied Economics 51(36), August 2019, pp.3947-3957.

"This article makes use of hourly crime counts to model the relationship between events that take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ and robberies...Results from the econometric model suggest that the NHL's New Jersey Devils ice hockey games, concerts, and Disney-themed events are all associated with increases in robbery, while various other event categories such as the NBA basketball games played by the and boxing, and mixed martial arts (MMA) matches are not associated with an increase." Rutgers-restricted Access

Associations Among Criminal Gang Members as a Defining Factor of Organization and as a Predictor of Criminal Behavior: The Gang Landscape of Newark, New Jersey Rutgers-restricted Access

Jean Marie McGloin. Thesis (Ph.D.), Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 2004.

"Findings show that street gangs in Newark are collectively rather disorganized and that, while gang members have varying positions within the respective networks, no clear taxonomy emerges. In addition, social position within a gang has a positive relationship with frequency of offending and violent offending."

"Policy and Intervention Considerations of a Network Analysis of Street Gangs"

Jean Marie McGloin. Criminology & Public Policy 4(3), August 2005, pp.607-635.

"This study details a network analysis of the street gang landscape in Newark, New Jersey. Using individual gang members as the unit of analysis and multiple layers of associations as the linkages within the networks, the results suggest that the gangs in Newark are loosely organized with pockets of cohesion." Rutgers-restricted Access

Bus Stops and Crime: Do Bus Stops Increase Crime Opportunities in Local Neighborhoods?

Sung-suk Violet Yu. Thesis (Ph.D.), Rutgers University, 2009.

Using frameworks of routine activity, crime pattern, and rational choice theories, the present study set out to investigate the relationships between bus stops and crime using Newark, New Jersey as the study area.

Exploring Fear of Crime Among Elderly Urban Females: An Application of Focus and Intensive Interview Techniques Rutgers-restricted access

Kathleen J. Hanrahan. Thesis (Ph.D.), Rutgers University, 1990.

"This study is an exploration of the experience of fear of crime among a group of elderly, urban, women. Respondents are elderly female residents of Newark, New Jersey who participate in city operated senior citizen centers."

"The Effects of Building Size on Personal Crime and Fear of Crime"

Oscar Newman and Karen A. Franck. Population and Environment 5(4), Winter 1982, pp. 203-220.

The relationship between architectural design, crime, & fear of crime was tested in a study of moderate-income housing developments in Newark, NJ, San Francisco, Calif, & St. Louis, Mo, & in low-income public housing projects in San Francisco. Rutgers-restricted Access

"Violent Crime and Alcohol Availability: Relationships in an Urban Community"

Paul W. Speer et al. Journal of Public Health Policy 19(3), 1998, pp.303-318.

Examines the relationship between violent crime, neighborhood sociodemographic characteristics, & alcohol outlet densities in Newark. Rutgers-restricted Access

Examining Spatiotemporal Patterns of Disorder at Bars in Newark, NJ

Rosalyn Bocker Parks. Thesis (Ph.D.), Rutgers University Newark, 2015

" While the interaction of time and place plays an important role in bar and disorder research, a systematic examination of these temporal and spatial patterns of disorder concentrations at bar locations has not been undertaken. The goal of this research was to examine spatial and temporal concentrations of disorder at bars."

"Impact of Newark's Operation Ceasefire on Trauma Center Gunshot Wound Admissions"

Douglas J. Boyle et.al. Justice Research and Policy 12(2), 2010, pp. 105-123

"We examined the impact of Newark’s Operation Ceasefire on gunshot wound admissions (GSW) to the Level 1 Trauma Center at University Hospital for a three-year period. "

"Police-monitored CCTV cameras in Newark, NJ: A quasi-experimental test of crime deterrence"

Joel Caplan, Leslie Kennedy, and Gohar Petrossian. Journal of Experimental Criminology 7(3), September 2011, pp.255-274.

"A quasi-experimental research design, using camera installation sites and randomly selected control sites, assessed the impact of CCTV on the crimes of shootings, auto thefts, and thefts from autos in Newark, NJ, for 13 months before and after camera installation dates." Rutgers-restricted Access

"Analyzing the Influence of Micro-Level Factors on CCTV Camera Effect"

Eric L. Piza, Joel M. Caplan, and Leslie W. Kennedy. Journal of Quantitative Criminology 30(2), June 2014, pp.237-264.

"The current study contributes to the literature by testing the influence of several micro-level factors on changes in crime levels within CCTV areas of Newark, NJ." Rutgers-restricted Access

The Crime Prevention Effect of CCTV in Public Places: A Propensity Score Analysis

Eric L. Piza. JC&J: Journal of Crime & Justice 41(1), 2018, pp. 14-30.

This study measures the effect of CCTV in Newark, NJ across three separate crime categories: auto theft, theft from auto, and violent crime.

Assault

"Individual-Level and Socio-Structural Characteristics of Violence: An Emergency Department Study"

Douglas J. Boyle and Constance Hassett-Walker. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 23(8), August 2008, pp. 1011-1026.

"In this article, the authors present a data collection system to provide information about assault-related injuries within Newark, New Jersey." Rutgers-restricted Access

Armed Aggravated Assaults on Police Officers in Newark, New Jersey : An Exploratory Analysis

Jennifer L. Lanterman. Thesis (Ph.D.). Rutgers University, 2007.

The purpose of the current exploratory case study is to determine whether patterns or common factors exist in the armed aggravated assaults on police officers in Newark, New Jersey.

Auto Theft

"A Spatial Analysis of Criminal Effort: Auto Theft in Newark, New Jersey"

Marissa C. Potchak, Jean M. McGloin, and Kristen M. Zgoba. Criminal Justice Policy Review 13(3), September 2002, pp. 257-285.

"This article draws on insights from rational choice theory to examine the effect of criminal effort—operationalized as distance traveled to a criminal opportunity—on auto theft incidents in Newark, New Jersey, during the year 2000." Rutgers-restricted Access

Drugs

How Are Street Drug Dealing Locations Selected?

Ko-Hsin Hsu. Thesis (Ph.D). Rutgers University Newark, 2014.

"In Newark, NJ, drug dealing is common, but it is not evenly distributed in every part of the city. Between 2007 and 2009, most drug arrests were made on less than 20% of the streets. The dissertation seeks to explain how the locations for drug dealing are related to their surrounding situational features."

Assessing the Situational Predictors of Drug Markets Across Street Segments and Intersections

Ko-Hsin Hsu and Joel Miller. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 54(6), November 2017, pp. 902-929.

"This study examines the factors that are statistically associated with drug-dealing settings in Newark, NJ, and assesses whether there are systematic differences in these between street segments and on intersections...A variety of factors are associated with street drug-dealing hot spots, including mailboxes and churches, not previously identified in the literature on street crimes." Rutgers-restricted Access

Script Analysis of Open-air Drug Selling

Victoria A. Sytsma and Eric L. Piza. Journal of Crime and Delinquency 55(1), February 2018, pp. 78-102.

Researchers conducted a systematic social observation of CCTV footage of open-air drug markets in Newark, NJ. The data were used to identify sequential stages of drug transactions. Rutgers-restricted Access

Homicide

Murder Did Pay: 19th Century New Jersey Murders

John T. Cunningham (Introduction). With a bibliography by Donald A. Sinclair. Newark, New Jersey Historical Society, 1981.

Reprinting of four nineteenth century pamphlets documenting four notorious New Jersey murder cases, including Life, Trial, Execution and Dying Confession of John Erpenstein. Convicted of Poisoning His Wife, and Executed in Newark, N.J., March 30, 1852. Sinclair's bibliography, "Murders in Print," is primarily a bibliography of separate publications (1692-1901) relating to murders in or associated with New Jersey. Available?

The Influence of Planned Aggression on the Journey to Homicide: An Examination Across Typology Classifications

Nicholas Corsaro, Jesenia M. Pizarro, & Jillian Shafer. Homicide Studies, 21(3), August 2017, pp. 179-198.

"We assessed the impact of planned aggression across homicide mobility types in Newark, New Jersey, from 1997 through 2007."

Peaceable Kingdoms and War Zones: Pre-emption, Ballistics and Murder in Newark

Brendan Andrew O'Flaherty and Rajiv Sethi. Columbia University. Department of Economics Discussion Papers. 2007.

"Between 2000 and 2006 the murder rate in Newark doubled while the national rate remained essentially constant... In Newark, the changes in fundamentals that set off the spiral were a collapsing arrest rate (and probably a falling conviction rate), a reduction in prisoners, and a shrinking police force."

"Comment on "Peaceable Kingdoms and War Zones: Preemption, Ballistics and Murder in Newark''

Guillermo Cruces. IN The Economics of Crime: Lessons for and from Latin America. Edited by Rafael Di Tella, Sebastian Edwards, and Ernesto Schargrodsky. University of Chicago Press, 2010.

"Explaining Gang Homicides in Newark, New Jersey. Collective Behavior or Social Disorganization?"

Jesenia M. Pizarro and Jean Marie McGloin.. Journal of Criminal Justice 34(2), March-April 2006, pp. 195-207.

"The findings of this study suggested that there were significant differences between gang and non-gang homicides at the incident level. At the multivariate level, the authors found that homicides precipitated by the operationalization of Decker's (1996) escalation hypothesis were more likely to be gang-related. Conversely, the social disorganization measure did not predict gang homicide, while poverty was a significant predictor."Rutgers-restricted Access

"Race, Gender, and the Newsworthiness of Homicide Incidents"

Jeff Gruenewald, Jesenia Pizarro, and Steven M. Chermak. Journal of Criminal Justice 37(3), May-June 2009, pp. 262-272.

Examines how cultural typification of victims and offenders affected news media coverage of homicides in Newark, New Jersey, between 1997 and 2005. Rutgers-restricted Access

"An Examination of the Covariates of Female Homicide Victimization and Offending"

Jesenia M. Pizarro, Christina DeJong, and Edmund F. McGarrell. Feminist Criminology 5(1), January 2010, pp.51-72.

"This study examines and compares the covariates of female homicide offending and victimization in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Newark, New Jersey." Rutgers-restricted Access

"Can Situational and Structural Factors Differentiate Between Intimate Partner and 'Other' Homicide?"

Christina DeJong, Jesenia M. Pizarro, and Edmunc F. McGarrell. Journal of Family Violence 26(5), July 2011, pp. 365-376.

" This study examines data collected from 739 homicides in two distinct metropolitan cities [Newark and Indianapolis] to determine which factors differentiate intimate and non-intimate homicide. Rutgers-restricted Access

"Reassessing the Situational Covariates of Homicides: Is There a Need to Disaggregate?"

Jesenia M. Pizarro. Homicide Studies 12(4), November 2008, pp. 323-349.

Examines the situational covariates of four distinct homicide types (i.e., domestic, drug, robbery, and interpersonal dispute) that occurred in the city of Newark, New Jersey, from 1997 through 2005. Rutgers-restricted Access

"Assessing the Interaction Between Offender and Victim Criminal LIfestyles & Homicide Type"

Jesenia M. Pizarro, Kristen M. Zgoba, and Wesley G. Jennings. Journal of Criminal Justice 39(5), September-October 2011, pp. 367-377.

"This study examined the interaction between homicide victim and offender criminal lifestyles and the situational characteristics of homicides that occurred in the city of Newark, New Jersey from 1997 through 2007." Rutgers-restricted Access

"Cool Pose: Black Male Homicide and the Social Implications of Manhood"

Ronald E. Hall and Jesenia M. Pizarro. Journal of Social Service Research 37(1), 2010, pp.86-98.

"Cool Pose is a tradition of manhood originating in Africa. The relationship of Cool Pose and homicide was examined by analyzing with multivariate statistical techniques 721 homicide incidents that occurred in the city of Newark, New Jersey. Rutgers-restricted Access

"An Assessment of the Quality of Homicide Data in the Supplementary Homicide Reports: A Research Note"

Jesenia M. Pizarro and April M. Zeoli. Justice Quarterly 30(4), 2013, pp.711-731.

"This research note examines the accuracy of the information in the [FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports] by comparing homicide cases in Newark, New Jersey with their respective data to determine the level of disagreement between the data sources, which variables exhibit the greatest disagreement, and the case-related variables related to the disagreement." Rutgers-restricted Access

"Homicide as Infectious Disease: Using Public Health Methods to Investigate the Diffusion of Homicide"

April M. Zeoli, Jesenia M. Pizarro, Sue C. Grady, and Christopher Melde. Justice Quarterly 31(3), 2014, pp. 609-632.

"This study examined the spatial and temporal movement of homicide in Newark, New Jersey from January 1982 through September 2008...The results revealed spatio-temporal patterns of expansion diffusion: overall, firearm and gang homicide clusters in Newark evolved from a common area in the center of the city and spread southward and westward over the course of two decades." Rutgers-restricted Access

Examining the Relationship Between Weather and Homicide

Chae M. Mamayek. Thesis (M.A.). Michigan State University, 2013.

" The present study draws from existing literature and examines the relationship between weather and homicide. A unique and rich data set of homicides known to the police in Newark, New Jersey is employed in answering the following research questions: (1) Is weather an important situational covariate in the occurrence of homicide, (2) given that a homicide occurs, is weather an important situational covariate of homicide once it is disaggregated by location (i.e. outdoor and indoor), and (3) is there a relationship between the number of homicide incidents and temperature?"

Do Dead People Speak Different Languages?: A Comparative Approach to the Social Construction of Violent Death in France and in the United States

Melanie-Angela Neuilly. Thesis (Ph.D.), Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 2007.

"The research analyzed the different types of violent deaths according to a comparative social constructionist perspective to identify the processes and factors at play in their classification as homicide, suicide, or accident...The author conducted a comparative case study of practices at the Regional Medical Examiner's Office in Newark, New Jersey and at the Institut Médico-Légal in Rennes, France."

Institutions, Race, and New Jersey Cities: The Tragedy of Black Youth

Margaret M. D'Aversa. (Ph.D. Thesis) Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 2017.

"This research uses a case study framework to explore the persistently high prevalence of homicides of young black men and associated prevention mechanisms in inner cities in New Jersey. The cases selected center on three of New Jersey's twelve most populated cities: Camden, Newark, and Trenton."

Motivation to Kill: The Relationship between Motive and Weapon Choice in Homicide

Karissa Pelletier. (Masters Thesis) Arizona State University, 2017.

"The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence the choice of weapon in homicide. The study focuses on three research questions using data from Newark, New Jersey: what is the most commonly associated weapon with each motive? What factors influence the use of a particular type of weapon in a homicide? How does the method of weapon retrieval, or lack thereof, affect the choice of weapon?"

The Rational Choice Is the Easiest One the Effect of Sex on Weapons Used in Homicide

Gabriel Alvarez. (M.S. Thesis), Arizona State University, 2022.

"The purpose of this study is to examine how sex influences the physical demand of weapons used in homicide. The study focuses on two research questions using data from Newark, New Jersey: (1) Does sex influence the use of a weapon that is more or less physically demanding to commit homicide? and (2) Does the sex dyad of the offender and victim influence using a weapon that is more or less physically demanding?" Rutgers-restricted Access

Crime Bosses of Newark: "Richie the Boot" Boiardo and Longie Zwillman

Michael Immerso and Warren Grover; moderated by Angelo Baglivo. Panel discussion sponsored by the Newark History Society and the New Jersey Historical Society. September 15, 2008.

In the Godfather Garden: The Long Life and Times of Richie "the Boot" Boiardo

Richard Linnett. New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers University Press, 2013. Available?

Gangster #2: Longy Zwillman, the Man Who Invented Organized Crime

Mark A. Stuart. Secaucus, NJ, Lyle Stuart, 1985. Available?

FBI Records: Abner Zwillman

7 volumes of digitized documents (newspaper articles, reports, memoranda) spanning the 1930s to the 1950s.

Nazis in Newark

Warren Grover. New Brunswick, N.J. Transaction Publishers, c2003.

The Minutemen, a group of boxers and bodyguards from Zwillman's Third Ward Gang, and the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League, led by physician S. William Kalb, led the opposition to Nazi activities and recruitment efforts in Newark between 1933 and 1941. Available?

Abner 'Longy' Zwillman-Kefauver Hearings

Short video clip of Zwillman during the Kefauver Crime Committee hearing.

Investigation of Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce

Hearings before a Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, United States Senate, Eighty-first Congress, 2nd Session. 1950.

Zwillman testimony before the Kefauver Committee, pp. 588-628.

Investigation of Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce: Part 18: New York and New Jersey

Hearings Before the Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce. United States Senate. Eighty-Second Congress. First Session. July 6, 7, 11, 17, 19, 20; August 15, 16, 17. 1951.

Includes extended testimony from Meyer Ellenstein, the former mayor of Newark, mobster Joseph "Doc" Stacher, and others.