Where Manasquan, Belmar Rank In Violent Crime

MANASQUAN – Even as crime has declined in New Jersey, there are still a number of communities that continue to deal with high rates of murder, aggravated assault and other forms of violence. Manasquan and Belmar aren't immune from those issues.

Patch put together a list of communities that reported violent cime in the state, from highest to lowest, along with the communities that had the biggest to smallest increases in violent crime between 2017 and 2018. The local Jersey Shore communities are listed below.

Read more: 418 NJ Towns With Most Violent Crime, According To New FBI Data

The numbers come from the FBI "Crime in the United States Report" released this month, using statistics from the most recent year available (2018).

The FBI defines the most serious forms of "violent crime" as murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. New FBI data shows crime decreased in the United States from 2017 to 2018 by 3.9 percent.

The FBI Uniform Crime Report shows that violent crimes in New Jersey dropped 10 percent from 2017 to 2018, while the number of murders dropped 11 percent.

The report, though, is a snapshot of only one year, and thus not an accurate indicator of larger sustained trends.

Here is how the local towns ranked among 418 New Jersey communities with the highest-to-lowest rates of violent crime per 1,000 people (towns not on the list did not report violent crime):

• #3 Asbury Park 11.07
• #140 Manasquan 1.19
• #165 Belmar 1.06
• #216 Point Pleasant Boro 0.76
• #230 Point Pleasant Beach 0.67

Here is where the towns ranked in terms of highest-to-lowest increases and decreases (towns not on the list had no violent crime):

Increases

• #68 Point Pleasant Beach 0.44
• #83 Manasquan 0.34

Decreases

• #13 Asbury Park -2.49
• #94 Belmar -0.53
• #211 Point Pleasant Boro -0.11