Homicide in New Jersey, 2009

With the start of a new year, I'm going to be more regular in updating this blog. Homicide in New Jersey in 2009 was at record lows, but still gang and drug violence, domestic disputes, and other acts of killing, premeditated and otherwise, claimed the lives of many in our state.

There were 349 homicides in New Jersey in 2009. Included in this number are nine double homicides, and one triple homicide - three people killed due to a maliciously set arson in a family home in Newark.

Out of these homicides, 294 were of the first degree - intentional or premeditated attacks that result in death. 43 were of the next degree - most of these being hit and run vehicular homicides, where death may not have been the intended outcome, but due to negligence or willful disregard for life, the victim died.

There were 13 justifiable homicides - 12 cases of police shooting a violent suspect, and one case of an armed citizen killing a robber in self-defense.

By gender:
In the cases that are known and that I have documented, 230 males and 85 females were killed. There is a discrepancy with the actual homicide numbers, but they follow this general ratio - men are far more likely to both be killers and be victims. There was only one instance where the gender of the deceased was unknown.

Breakdown by age:
Murder victims age - broad categories
0-17: 34
18-35: 196
36-65: 83
66+: 21

Murder victims age by decade of life
0-9: 15
10-19: 39
20-29: 126
30-39: 51
40-49: 42
50-59: 29
60-69: 7
70-79: 7
80-89: 9
90+: 1

Twenty victims' ages were unknown.

Homicides by county:

Essex: 117

Camden: 40

Hudson: 37

Passaic: 26

Middlesex: 21

Mercer: 18

Union: 15

Bergen: 12

Atlantic: 11

Burlington: 10

Cumberland: 9

Monmouth: 9

Ocean: 7

Cape May: 3

Morris: 3

Somerset: 3

Warren: 3

Gloucester: 2

Sussex: 2

Salem: 1

Hunterdon: 0

Many of these counties have one heavily urban area responsible for the majority of the killings - nearly all of Essex County's murders took place in the large urban landscape of Newark-East Orange-Irvington. Similarly, Union County and Camden County had Elizabeth and Camden respectively dragging them down. Other counties, like Bergen and Atlantic, had far more evenly dispersed homicides - but usually at lower rates than the counties with large urban slums.

Homicides by municipality:

Newark – 81

Camden – 32

Jersey City – 32

Paterson – 18

Trenton – 17

Irvington – 14

Elizabeth – 9

East Orange – 9

New Brunswick – 5

Vineland – 5

Mansfield (BC) – 4

Old Bridge – 4

Orange – 4

Atlantic City – 3

Egg Harbor Township – 3

Hackensack – 3

Neptune – 3

Passaic – 3

Piscataway – 3

Bridgeton – 2

Bridgewater – 2

Caldwell – 2

Lakewood – 2

Lawnside – 2

Long Branch – 2

Mansfield (WC) – 2

Mays Landing – 2

North Bergen – 2

Pemberton – 2

Plainfield – 2

Red Bank – 2

Springfield Township – 2

Toms River – 2

Willingboro – 2

Winslow – 2

Woodbridge – 2

Asbury Park – 1

Bayonne – 1

Belleville – 1

Berkeley Township – 1

Bloomfield – 1

Bloomingdale – 1

Buena – 1

Cape May Court House – 1

Carneys Point – 1

Chatham – 1

Cliffside Park – 1

Clifton – 1

Cherry Hill – 1

Collingswood – 1

Deptford – 1

East Brunswick – 1

East Rutherford – 1

Edison – 1

Elmwood Park – 1

Fairfield – 1

Garfield – 1

Gloucester – 1

Gloucester Township – 1

Haddonfield – 1

Hamilton (AC) – 1

Kearny – 1

Knowlton – 1

Linwood – 1

Little Egg – 1

Little Ferry – 1

Logan Township – 1

Lyndhurst – 1

Millburn – 1

Millville – 1

Montclair – 1

Montgomery – 1

Morris Township – 1

Newton – 1

North Brunswick – 1

Palisades Park – 1

Paramus – 1

Park Ridge – 1

Perth Amboy – 1

Pompton Lakes – 1

Rahway – 1

Roselle – 1

Roselle Park – 1

Sayreville – 1

Seaside Heights – 1

South Brunswick – 1

South Orange – 1

Stanhope – 1

Union – 1

Union City – 1

Upper Deerfield – 1

Verona – 1

Wall – 1

Wayne – 1

West Milford – 1

Wharton – 1

Wildwood – 1

Woodbine – 1

Woodlynne – 1

By method:

Shooting: 206

Stabbing: 41

Mitigated vehicular homicide: 37

Beating: 26

Strangling: 13

Intentional vehicular homicide: 9

Arson: 7

Abandonment: 1

Drowning: 1

Asphyxiation: 1

Unknown: 8

By month of homicide:

January: 28

February: 23

March: 26

April: 22

May: 34

June: 31

July: 35

August: 31

September: 26

October: 34

November: 29

December: 27