Booker: Newark crime down 20 percent from last year

Newark Mayor Cory Booker announced Friday that crime in the city has dropped 20 percent from last year, but he's not yet satisfied. Booker said there were 49 murders in the past six months, representing

News 12 Staff

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Jul 7, 2007, 2:33 AM

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Updated 6,527 days ago

Newark Mayor Cory Booker announced Friday that crime in the city has dropped 20 percent from last year, but he's not yet satisfied.

Booker said there were 49 murders in the past six months, representing an eight percent drop from last year. The numbers aren't as low as they should be, though the progress is encouraging, Booker said.

"If you look at a week like last week, we're up against 20 shootings. We only had five. It seems every week we go, we see less and less people getting shot," he said.

Booker attributed the drop in crime to an increased police presence on the streets on nights and weekends. Security cameras installed on the streets also aided the effort, he said.

Police said officers are arresting 1,000 people a week on quality-of-life offenses. Often, these suspects have guns on them that could've been used for more violent crimes, police said.

In addition to law enforcement efforts, Booker said creating more jobs for young people would help reduce criminal activity.