Crime & Safety

Washington Twp. Crime Dips, Despite Less Police

According to a statistical report, the area's amount of crimes has lessened.

Despite a loss of three full-time police department members, total crime dipped in Washington Township from 2009 to 2010, according to the most recent Uniform Crime Report (UCR).

The report, which separates crimes into violent and non-violent categories, shows a total of 101 crimes in 2009 and a drop to 94 in 2010.

In that same time, the reduced its force by three full-time members, the report said. Since 2006, the department is down a total of eight members, Chief of Police Michael Bailey said.

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“We’ve been able to adapt,” Bailey said. “You have to. Some of the differences, though, are now you’ll see (the chief) and the lieutenants out on the roads, covering shifts and helping out. In the past, the higher-ranking officers were doing more supervision than actual coverage.

“Whatever we have to do, we do,” Bailey said.

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Not included in the violent and non-violent crimes total are the categories of arson, domestic violence, and bias crime.

Here’s what the year-over-year crime numbers look like, according to the report:

Murder* Rape* Robbery* Aggravated Assault* Burglary** Larceny** Motor Vehicle Theft** Total 2009 0 0 0 7 27 64 3 101 2010 0 1 0 6 15 69 3 94

*Denotes violent crimes.
**Denotes non-violent crimes.

Arson Domestic Violence* Bias Crime Total 2009 0 106 0 106 2010 2 103 0 105

*Washington Township Police do not release domestic violence reports to the media. 

More with less

The department is actually down one more member currently, as officer Peter Cecere is still recovering from a hand injury suffered during an incident in late March of this year.

The department isn’t able to use a replacement for Cecere at this time. Instead, the five-member squad he’s part of has been reshuffling schedules and making do, Bailey said.

“The squad (Cecere) is on is the one taking the hit right now,” the chief said. “But we’re managing.”

Uniform Crime Reports are usually released in the fall of each year to reflect the previous fiscal year’s statistics. 


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