The FBI publishes crime statistics for arrests and reports nationwide. The general trend has been a decrease in overall crime as reported in the most recent FBI crime statistics released in 2019. Independent organizations like CrimeGrade.org analyze crime data comparative to the national average and consider population and crime rate to grade U.S. cities on a scale of "A+" to "F." The following is a complete review of crime in Morristown, New Jersey.
Morristown, New Jersey receives an A- in safety from CrimeGrade.org. This means Morristown has a lower crime rate than average for U.S. cities landing us in the 79th percentile for safety. In other words, 21% of cities in the U.S. are safer than Morristown and 79% of U.S. cities are more "dangerous," or have a higher crime rate per 1,000 residents.
The rate of crime in Morristown per 1,000 residents is about 16.79 crimes per year. Residents generally consider the Southwest portion of Morristown to be the safest, and crime statistics show your chance of being a victim of crime is about 1 in 143 in Southwestern neighborhoods of Morristown. The chance of being a victim of a crime in Morristown can be as high as 1 in 24 in certain Northern neighborhoods. Ignoring the population, the highest number of reported crimes occur in Northern Morristown with an average of 364 crimes per year. Interestingly, Northeastern Morristown has as little as 14 crimes per year on average. This indicates the crimes taking place are largely focused in heavy retail areas of Morristown.
Below is a map color-coordinated to represent the average crime rate for Morristown areas and surrounding locations. Dark green represents the safest areas while yellow areas have more crime and red areas experience the highest crime rates.
As you can see, crime happens where the people are, and inflated crime rates appear most notably in areas with a low population but a high number of visitors. The town center, where few people live but many people visit due to a large number of retailers, appears to have higher crime rates. In these areas, the best way to gauge safety is to look at the total number of crimes per year on average. More inflated crime rates appear near major airports (of which Morristown has none), parks, and schools. These areas usually have a low population but see many visitors, therefore, driving up the rate of crime per 1,000 residents. Of Morristown's some twenty parks, nearly all see higher than normal crime rates because of the low population but high amount of visitors.
When interpreting the crime rate for Morristown neighborhoods look at the area's population compared to the average number of daily visitors. Consider nearby heavily visited locations such as parks, schools, and airports. This will give you a full picture of the true level of safety in your neighborhood.
Considering the crime rate, Morristown is much safer than the average U.S. city and the average New Jersey town. Crime occurs on average every eleven hours and fifty minutes in Morristown. However, you may be more likely to be a victim of a crime if you do not take certain precautions. For example, you are 300% more likely to be the victim of a home robbery in Morristown if you do not have a home security system. A doorbell camera or other security cameras, alarms, and adequate locks significantly deter criminals who opt for targeting homes with little to no security.
Below is a crime breakdown for Violent Crime, Property Crime, and Other Crimes in Morristown, NJ per 1,000 residents.
The grades at the bottom near the "Total Crime" represent the town's crime rating for each offense compared to a national average. Overall, Morristown struggles most with crimes falling under the "Other Crime Rates" category. The crimes of highest concern and rate in Morristown include drug crimes, vandalism, identity theft, burglary, and theft.
These statistics represent an average crime rate for a standard year in Morristown, NJ. So what has crime been like in 2021?
As previously mentioned, national crime is on a decline according to statistics reported by the FBI annually. Crime in New Jersey and in Morristown is on a downward trend as well. But since the pandemic hit the average decrease in crime has stalled. While we generally see a yearly decrease of about 10% per year, that downward trend has slowed to a steady 5-7% decrease. This means crime rates are not dropping as fast as they normally do. However, this seems to be the case for a few cities in the United States. While most cities saw the pandemic bring a dramatic decrease in crime, Morristown's every falling crime rate has stalled.
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