Village has almost 11.5% drop in crime

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer

Fewer burglaries in 2011 contributed to a nearly 11.5 percent drop in crime in South Orange last year, the South Orange Police Department reported Jan. 23.

Police Chief James M. Chelel credited the work of the officers in the department, and highlighted the role technology is playing to help police solve crimes. In all, South Orange had 438 crimes last year compared to 494 in 2010.

Helping nudge that total downward was a 48-percent drop in burglaries, according to data Chelel provided. That translated into 70 burglaries, compared with 135 in 2010.

The downward trend, also seen in neighboring Maplewood, returned the village to pre-2010 totals when the community averaged about 72 burglaries a year.

The number of violent crimes remained nearly unchanged, with 77 such incidents last year as compared with 78 in 2010. While there were no rapes or murders last year, the village experienced seven more robberies and 25 motor-vehicle thefts.

“We did see a spike during the summer with some robberies. What we did to address that was we had a task force out for the last two months (of 2011) to address robberies,” Chelel said in an interview.

The task force did the trick; according to Chelel, the town had a total of only five robberies during the months November and December.

“By putting out a task force out there, we made some quality field stops, and I think we were able to stop the right people and let them know we were out there,” he said.

Looking to this year, Chelel said he would like to increase the department’s use of technology.

He said he wanted to add more surveillance cameras in town, although he declined to specify which locations he had in mind.

“We’ll welcome any kind of additional cameras that we can get throughout the town also,” he said.

“The cameras have been helpful in giving us investigative leads when a crime does take place,” Chelel said. “They’ve helped us in the center solve some crimes. And we work closely with Seton Hall.

Seton Hall has cameras at various locations.

“They’ve provided us with some digital images that have helped solve crimes as well,” he continued, “not just when their students have been victims, but also when the residents or individuals who come in that area have become victims of crimes.”

Chelel also cited the benefits of using a license-plate recorder to help solve crimes. The device records license plates of vehicles entering and exiting the town.

As for the university, he said the police department “increased our police patrol presence in that area.”

He noted Seton Hall has also stepped up its security.

Philip Sean Curran can be reached at 908-686-7700, ext. 116, or at newsrecord@thelocalsource.com.