New numbers just released from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office show an increase in home invasions over the last few years related to high-end vehicle thefts.

According to the data, Monmouth County saw 251 thefts, 50 of them resulting from home entries in 2022.

There were 194 reported vehicle thefts, with 66 entries into homes in 2023.

As of March 2024, there have been 27 thefts, including 18 home invasions.

Law enforcement and town leaders continue to call for change to the statewide juvenile justice system to end repeat offenders.

"Why three years later are we still looking at the problem? Because the criminal knows if they do wrong. nothing happens to them and if nothing happens to them. they continue to do it," said Marlboro Township Mayor Jon Hornik.

"This is not a policing problem, this is a policy problem and until we fix the policy and we address the juveniles and we address some of the shortfalls of bail reform, we're going to continue to see this," added Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden.

Hornik sent lawmakers a proposed plan to change the juvenile system. He wants to see juveniles who break into homes charged as adults, juveniles who steal cars a second time charged as adults, and juveniles who are caught to be tried in the jurisdiction of where the crime took place, not where they live.

He says so far he has not received any feedback on his proposed changes from Trenton.