The Newark Police Department (NPD) has released its 2018 Annual Report.
Officials with the department point out at the beginning of the report that serious crime in Newark has been reduced by almost 45% over the last 11 years. They also reported that one of Newark’s most serious violent crimes, Robbery, has decreased by almost 70% in the past decade.
Taking a deeper dive into the report, we found that the year over year picture shows an increase in some Part 1 crimes.
Part I Offenses are typically described as the more “serious” crimes and are defined by the FBI as the following offenses: Murder/Attempted Murder, Kidnapping, Rape, Unlawful Sexual Contact, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Theft, Auto Theft, Arson, Other
Some notable upticks in Part I Offenses include a 75% increase in rape in 2018 over 2017 (Reported rape incidents jumped from 8 in 2017 to 14 in 2018), theft and auto theft were both up approximately 6.4% and incidents categorized as other crimes were up 4.7%.
We also found that Unlawful Sexual Contact incidents fell 50% and Robbery fell 39%. No murders were reported in the city in 2018.
Part II Offenses are defined by the FBI as the following offenses: Other Assaults, Receiving Stolen Property, Weapons, Other Sex Offenses, Alcohol, Drugs, Noise/Disorderly Premise, Disorderly Conduct, Trespass, Other.
In 2018 alcohol offenses increased by 49%, tresspass incidents were up almost 12%, while all other Part II categories fell below the 2017 totals.
Traffic collisions fell to a five year low with a reported 1,375 incidents in 2018. A decrease of 2.8% or 41 less motor vehicle collisions over the previous year.
The number of traffic summons increased by almost 13% with 1161 more citations issues in 2018, totaling 10270.
In 2018, dispatchers processed over 60,000 phone calls and 55,000 calls for service.
The Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU) is comprised of five detectives who are responsible for handling investigations that require special expertise or, because of their complexity or geographical considerations, do not lend themselves to completion by patrol officers.
In 2018, a total of 205 cases were assigned to CIU, including the following types of investigations: 17 robberies, 40 burglaries, 19 sexual assaults, 8 assaults, and 121 miscellaneous other investigations. CIU has one polygraph examiner assigned to the unit. The examiner conducts criminal and applicant testing for the department and assists other police agencies by conducting exams on their behalf. In 2018, the polygraph examiner conducted 11 police applicant polygraph examinations, which is part of the City of Newark’s hiring process to become a police officer.
2018 Street Crimes Unit Statistical Data
Activity Type Yearly Totals – 2018
Total Arrests 371
Criminal Arrests 83
Drug Arrests 83
Fugitive Arrests 72
Order Maintenance 46
Prostitution 37
Traffic/DUI Arrests 40
Crime Prevention Checks 122
Victim Services
The Victim Services Coordinator(VSC) provides social services to victims and witnesses of violent crimes. Victim Services includes crisis intervention, providing information and support during criminal investigations and through the court process, and assistance with the application for Victim’s Compensation Assistance Program.
2018 – Number of Victims Served by Type of Victimization
Type of Victimization Number of Victims Served
Child Physical Abuse 3
Child Sexual Assault 5
Domestic Violence 57
Adult Sexual Assault 26
Survivors of Homicide Victims 1
Robbery 9
Assault 21
*Other 78
*Other includes burglaries, harassment and terroristic threatening (not domestic related), fraud, theft, and sudden death (not homicide).
Special Investigations Unit
Special Investigations Detectives in the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) are assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force and generally work independent of the police department. SIU is responsible for investigating drug and organized crime activity.
In 2018, SIU detectives were the lead investigators/major case contributors in seizures involving the following drug totals:
Type of Drug Amount
Heroin 3,742 grams
Prescription Pills (Assorted) 2,131 pills
Crack Cocaine 792 grams
Marijuana 9,404 grams
Cocaine 117,471 grams
Crystal Methamphetamine 4,473 grams
MDMA (Ecstasy) 1,358 tablets
Red-Light Tickets
The Traffic Unit is also responsible for the review and approval of red-light citations issued through the Electronic Red-Light Safety Program administered by DelDOT. In the past year, 3637 citations were reviewed and 3495 (96.1%) were approved and sent on to violators, while 142 (3.9%) were rejected and resulted in no action. A member of the Traffic Unit attends court one day each month for trials based on automated red-light citations.
Animal Control
In 2018 the police department responded to a total of 476 animal-related calls.