Violent Deaths in New Jersey

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SURVEILLANCE REPORT Violent Deaths in New Jersey, 2003-2005 Results from the New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Center for Health Statistics Public Health Services Branch New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Jon S. Corzine Governor Heather Howard Commissioner Violent Deaths in New Jersey 2003-2005 Results from the New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System Bretta Jacquemin, MPH Deborah L. Crabtree, MS Loretta A. Kelly, MS Katherine Hempstead, PhD Director, Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention and Center for Health Statistics Eddy A. Bresnitz, MD, MS Deputy Commissioner/State Epidemiologist Public Health Services Branch New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services February 2008 Center for Health Statistics Acknowledgements This publication was supported by Award Number U17/CCU222395 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention, New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC. Data for the New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System are obtained from many sources. We acknowledge the cooperation of many state, county and local agencies including; the Office of the Attorney General, the Division of Criminal Justice, the Office of the State Medical Examiner, the New Jersey State Police, County Prosecutors’ Offices, local law enforcement, and many others. Additionally, we would like to acknowledge the Violence Institute of New Jersey, UMDNJ, the New Jersey Child Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board, and the New Jersey Domestic Violence Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board. We would like to acknowledge Catherine Klinger, Karen S. Weintraub, Maria L. Baron Duffy, Doug Boyle, Bruce Stout, and Ray Massi. Additionally, we would also like to acknowledge our Advisory Board for their continued support. For more information: New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Center for Health Statistics Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention 171 Jersey Street, Building 5, 2nd Floor, PO Box 360, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360 Email: chs@doh.state.nj.us Telephone: (609) 984-6703 Facsimile: (609) 984-7633 This report is available on the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services website (http://nj.gov/health/chs/oisp/njvdrs.shtml). Additional statistics not included in the report or on the Internet may be obtained through request to the Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention. Suggested Citation: Violent Deaths in New Jersey, 2003-2005. Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention, Center for Health Statistics, New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Trenton, NJ, 2008. ii Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ iii List of Tables and Figures ............................................................................................... iv Executive Summary.........................................................................................................vii Chapter 1. About the National Violent Death Reporting System ....................................... 1 Chapter 2. Violent Deaths ................................................................................................ 6 Violent Deaths among Children .................................................................... 17 Chapter 3. Suicide ......................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 4. Homicide ...................................................................................................... 33 Measuring Gang and ‘Gang-like’ Homicides ................................................. 43 Technical Notes..... ......................................................................................................... 52 References..... ................................................................................................................ 58 Appendices ................................................................................................................... 59 Appendix A. Development of the National Violent Death Reporting System ......... 60 Appendix B. Complete table of suicide circumstances by age, 2003-2005 ......... 65 Appendix C. Complete table of homicide circumstances by age, 2003-2005 ...... 66 Appendix D. Injury Deaths of Undetermined Intent ............................................... 67 Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 iii List of Tables and Figures Chapter 1. Table 1. Figure 1. Figure 2. Chapter 2. Table 2. Figure 3. Table 3. Table 4. Table 5. Figure 4. Figure 5. Figure 6. Figure 7. Figure 8. Figure 9. Figure 10. Figure 11. Table 6. About the National Violent Death Reporting System ICD-10 External Cause of Death Codes for Manners of Death ...................1 Flowchart of NJVDRS data collection ........................................................5 Types of violent incidents in NJVDRS, 2003-2005 .....................................5 Violent Deaths All deaths in New Jersey, 2003-2005 .........................................................6 Violent deaths in New Jersey by manner, 2003-2005 .................................7 Violent death rates by gender, 2003-2005 .................................................7 New Jersey resident and occurrent deaths, 2003-2005 .............................. 8 Suicide and homicide rates by county of residence, 2003-2005 ................. 9 Homicide and suicide rates by county, 2003-2005 ...................................10 Suicide rates by county of residence, 2003-2005 ..................................... 11 Homicide rates by county of residence, 2003-2005 ..................................12 Age-specific suicide rates, males and females, 2003-2005 .....................13 Age-specific homicide rates, males and females, 2003-2005 ..................13 Suicide rates by race/ethnicity, 2003-2005 ...............................................14 Homicide rates by race/ethnicity, 2003-2005 ...........................................14 Weapons used in New Jersey violent deaths, 2003-2005 ........................15 Location of injury by manner, 2003-2005 ..................................................16 Violent Deaths Among Children Table 7. Table 8. Table 9. Figure 12. Violent deaths among children, 2003-2005 ..............................................17 Manner of violent deaths among children, 2003-2005 ..............................18 Weapons used in violent deaths among children, 2003-2005 ...................18 Location of injury for violent deaths among New Jersey children, 2003-2005 ..............................................................................................19 Table 10. Chapter 3. Table 11. iv Child Fatality Review Team decisions, 2003-2005 ...................................20 Suicide Suicide by gender and age, New Jersey, 2003-2005 ...............................21 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Figure 13. Table 12. Figure 14. Table 13. Table 14. Table 15. Figure 15. Table 16. Suicide rates by gender and race/ethnicity, 2003-2005 ............................22 Suicide circumstances by gender, 2003-2005 .........................................23 Gender differences for reported suicide circumstances, 2003-2005 ........24 Mental health suicide circumstances by age groups, 2003-2005 ..............25 Previous suicide history by age groups, 2003-2005 .................................25 Relationship and life event problems by age groups, 2003-2005 ..............26 Major weapons used in New Jersey suicides, 2003-2005 ........................27 Firearm presence in the home and suicide rates, New Jersey, 2003-2005 ..............................................................................................28 Figure 16. Firearm presence in the home and suicide rates, New Jersey, 2003-2005 ..............................................................................................29 Table 17. Figure 17. Figure 18. Suicide injury locations by gender, 2003-2005 .........................................30 New Jersey suicides by victim residence, 2003-2005 ..............................31 New Jersey suicide occurrences, not in the victim’s residence, 2003-2005 ..............................................................................................32 Chapter 4. Table 18. Table 19. Figure 19. Table 20 Table 21. Table 22. Table 23. Figure 20. Figure 21. Figure 22. Table 24. Table 25. Figure 23. Homicide Homicide by gender and age, New Jersey, 2003-2005 ............................33 Homicide rates by gender and race/ethnicity, 2003-2005 .........................34 Homicide rates by gender and race/ethnicity, 2003-2005 .........................34 Relationship of homicide victims to suspects, 2003-2005 ........................35 Homicide circumstances by gender, 2003-2005 ......................................36 Street crimes as homicide circumstances, 2003-2005 .............................37 Family violence and other homicide circumstances, 2003-2005 ...............37 Lifetime trend of selected homicide circumstances, 2003-2005 ...............38 Crimes precipitating homicides, 2003-2005 ............................................38 Major weapons used in New Jersey homicides, 2003-2005 .....................39 Location of homicide injuries by manner, 2003-2005 ................................40 Homicide victim place of death, 2003-2005 .............................................40 Homicide occurrences in New Jersey, 2003-2005 ...................................41 v Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 Table 26. Homicide in New Jersey municipalities, 2003-2005 .................................42 Measuring Gang and ‘Gang-like’ Homicides Figure 24. Figure 25. Homicide in Atlantic City and Pleasantville, 2003-2005 ............................44 Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Atlantic City and Pleasantville, 2003-2005 ............................................................................................ 44 Figure 26. Figure 27. Figure 28. Figure 29. Figure 30. Figure 31. Figure 32. Figure 33. Homicide in Camden, 2003-2005 ............................................................45 Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Camden, 2003-2005 ..............................45 Homicide in Elizabeth, 2003-2005 ...........................................................46 Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Elizabeth, 2003-2005 .............................46 Homicide in Jersey City, 2003-2005 ........................................................47 Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Jersey City, 2003-2005 ...........................47 Homicide in Newark, Irvington and East Orange, 2003-2005 ...................48 Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Newark, Irvington and East Orange, 2003-2005 ..............................................................................................48 Figure 34. Figure 35. Figure 36. Figure 37. Figure 38. Figure 39. Homicide in Paterson, 2003-2005 ...........................................................49 Gang or ‘gang-like‘ homicide in Paterson, 2003-2005 .............................49 Homicide in Trenton, 2003-2005 ..............................................................50 Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Trenton, 2003-2005 ................................50 Homicide in Vineland, Millville and Bridgeton, 2003-2005 ........................51 Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Vineland, Millville and Bridgeton, 2003-2005 ..............................................................................................51 Appendices Table A1. Table A2. Complete table of suicide circumstances by age, 2003-2005 ..................65 Complete table of homicide circumstances by age, 2003-2005 ...............66 Injury Deaths of Undetermined Intent Table A3. Figure A1. Table A4. Comparison of victim characteristics in suicide and injury deaths of undetermined intent, New Jersey residents, 2003-2005 ...........................67 Weapons used in injury deaths of undetermined intent, 2003-2005 ..........68 NJVDRS circumstances for injury deaths of undetermined intent by gender, 2003-2005 .............................................................................69 vi Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Executive Summary Violence causes nearly one thousand deaths each year in New Jersey, and many thousands of non-fatal injuries. Homicide and suicide are leading causes of death among young adults, together causing more loss of life than motor vehicle crashes for those aged 15 to 34 years. Suicide rates in New Jersey are well below the national average and have remained fairly stable in recent years. However, homicide has been rising substantially. Homicide rates in New Jersey have risen 28% since 2000, and have reached levels not seen since the mid-1990s. A major contributor to the increase in homicides has been the proliferation of illegal firearms in urban areas. At the same time, a decrease in legal gun ownership is related to a sustained decline in suicides, both in New Jersey and nationally. This report provides data from the New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System (NJVDRS) for the years 2003 to 2005. NJVDRS is part of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded effort to improve prevention of violent deaths by increasing understanding of their characteristics and circumstances. NJVDRS combines information from multiple sources to create a detailed record of violent incidents resulting in fatalities. Some of the major findings are highlighted below: Suicide • There were 1,758 suicides in New Jersey between 2003 and 2005, an average of approximately 580 per year. The suicide rate has remained relatively steady in recent years. • Older white males are at highest risk for suicide; the suicide rate for males rises fairly steadily with age. White females are also at higher risk. The female suicide rate rises with age up to about middle age where it remains relatively stable until it drops for females aged 65 years and over. • Males commit suicide far more often than females, 1,390 versus 368 between 2003 and 2005. • The most common mechanism for suicide was hanging or suffocation, with firearms second and poisoning third. Executive Summary Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 vii Suicide cont. • Suicide rates are highest in more rural parts of New Jersey where firearm ownership is more common; rates of firearm suicide are higher in these areas, and rates of suicide from other mechanisms are not lower. • The most common circumstance associated with suicide is a mental health problem. • Among the elderly, physical health problems are a major suicide circumstance. • Adolescents have lower suicide rates than adults. • Among adolescents, recent crises and relationship problems with family, friends, or an intimate partner are important suicide circumstances. Homicide • The number of homicides rose from 320 in 2000 to 415 in 2005, an increase of 30%. • More than 60% of homicides were committed with firearms, almost 70% occurred within 15 municipalities, and nearly 40% took place in the street. • More than half of homicides in 2005 were directly associated with gang activity, drug trafficking, drive-by shootings, or had other circumstances associated with gang or ‘gang-like’ activity. • Young black males are disproportionately victims of homicide. • Thirty-five percent of homicides were among those 24 years of age and under; 30% were among those aged 25 to 34 years. • Intimate partner homicide accounted for about 50 deaths each year, 12% of all homicides. Thirty-six percent of female homicide victims were killed by a current or former intimate partner. Executive Summary • Over two-thirds of female homicide victims were killed in a residence, as compared with about one-quarter of male homicide victims. viii Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Chapter 1 About the National Violent Death Reporting System Introduction Violence is a public health problem in the United States and worldwide. The World Health Organization cites violence as a global health problem and has estimated that in 2000 there were over 1.6 million violent deaths worldwide, close to half of which were suicides.1 National Violent Death Reporting System The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) in 2002 to improve public health efforts to prevent violence. NVDRS grew from a smaller scale surveillance project, the National Violent Injury Statistics System The United States has one of the highest (NVISS), created by the Harvard University homicide rates in the industrialized world. School of Public Health in 1999. Like Between 2000 and 2004, homicide and NVISS, NVDRS combines information from suicide represented the second and third multiple sources to create a detailed leading causes of death respectively for database on all violent deaths. The primary those aged 15 to 24 years in the United sources are death certificates, and medical States. Homicide death rates are highest in examiner/coroner and law enforcement urban areas, while the converse is true for reports; trained abstractors enter data from suicide. New Jersey has lower violent death these sources according to protocols rates as compared with the United States established by CDC. NVDRS includes all as a whole; nevertheless, violent deaths homicides, suicides, injury deaths of accounted for over 135,000 years of undetermined intent, unintentional firearm potential life lost before age 65 in New deaths, and deaths from legal intervention Jersey between 2000 and 2004.2 (Table 1). Table 1. ICD-10 External Cause of Death Codes for Manners of Death Manner Suicide Homicide Injury Deaths of Undetermined Intent Legal Intervention Unintentional Firearm Deaths ICD-10 Code X60-X84, Y87.0, U03 (terrorism) X85-X99, Y00-Y09, Y87.1, U01-U02 (terrorism) Y10-Y34, Y87.2, Y89.9 Y35.0-Y35.4, Y35.6-Y35.7, Y89.0 W32-W34, Y86 (if determined to be due to firearm) About NVDRS Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 1 Supplemental Data Sources In addition to the primary sources, data for NVDRS are also collected from crime laboratories, hospitalization records, and Supplemental Homicide Reports (SHRs), which are part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) System.3 Variables There are a significant number of variables in NVDRS, including demographic information and wound information (for penetrating injuries). Frequently, medical examiners perform toxicology on victims to test for the presence of alcohol and drugs. This information is also collected by NVDRS. The number of data elements in an incident varies based on its complexity. Using a single adult firearm suicide as an example, there are a minimum of 85 unique data elements collected for that incident.4 NVDRS System Design NVDRS is an incident-based system, which allows for identification and analysis of more complex types of incidents as murdersuicides, multi-victim homicides, suicide pacts, etc. Since suspects are included in the incident along with the victim(s), this design also allows for analysis of victimsuspect relationships, and comparison of victim-suspect characteristics. Location In addition to collecting victim and suspect resident address information, several variables in NVDRS provide information about location of injury. This includes the type of location (e.g. residence, street, motor vehicle, natural area), whether the injury occurred at the victim’s place of work or home, as well as the actual address that can be mapped. Location of injury can be a useful tool for examining “hotspots” of violence in a community or identifying a location that appears attractive to suicidal persons, such as a specific bridge or cliff. Resident and Occurrent Incidents State health departments are required to collect information on the deaths of state residents, including those resident deaths that occur out-of-state. Similarly, NVDRS includes resident incidents, which are fatal violent injuries to a state resident no matter where the injury occurs. But NVDRS also includes occurrent incidents, where the fatal violent injury occurs within that state’s borders, regardless of the state in which the person eventually dies, or the state in which the person officially resided. About NVDRS Weapon NVDRS collects data on all weapons used in each incident and associates each with the correct suspect and victim. Information 2 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention on the type of weapon is collected, as well as additional details if the weapon is a poison or firearm. Firearm variables include type of firearm, make, and model. If a youth is the victim of a firearm death, NVDRS collects storage information on the firearm involved. For unintentional firearm injury deaths, NVDRS also collects some contextual information such as whether the victim was hunting, showing, cleaning, loading or unloading the weapon, or if the weapon was discharged during celebratory firing. Abstractor Manner of Death Another unique feature of the NVDRS system is the “abstractor manner of death” variable. NVDRS includes homicides, suicides, injury deaths of undetermined intent, unintentional firearm deaths, and deaths from legal intervention. While the major data sources tend to agree on manner of death, occasionally there is disagreement, usually because of definitional differences or local practice. For example, a motor vehicle incident in which one motorist causes the death of another may be ruled a “homicide” by the medical examiner but is usually considered “unintentional” by law enforcement. In other cases, the medical examiner does not have enough information to make a definitive manner of death determination so “undetermined intent” is chosen, but law enforcement eventually does have more information and chooses a different manner. NVDRS standardization may also impact a final manner of death determination. For example, a medical examiner may rule a Russian Roulette death as “unintentional”, but NVDRS defines that as “suicide”. The manner chosen by an abstractor must match the manner on at least one of the major sources, with the exception of legal intervention. These deaths are a subset of homicide, and the “legal intervention” classification is not typically used by medical examiners or law enforcement. “Abstractor manner of death” provides abstractors the opportunity to indicate the appropriate manner of death supported by the complete incident information. 3 Circumstances Perhaps the most important feature of the NVDRS surveillance system is the collection of circumstance information surrounding each death. Examples of circumstances for suicides include the mental health status of the victim, whether the victim experienced any recent crisis or problem, and whether the victim had previously disclosed an intent to complete suicide. Homicide circumstances include whether the homicide was precipitated by another crime and if that crime was in progress; and if the homicide was drug-related, precipitated by an argument, or intimate partner violence-related. More than one circumstance can be associated with a death in NVDRS. Circumstance information is an especially important tool for suicide prevention because it provides useful information on the types of conditions and events that precipitate suicidal ideation. About NVDRS Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 The benefit of the “abstractor manner of death” variable is that it ensures that deaths in NVDRS are classified following the same coding guidelines. However, this abstractor assigned manner occasionally results in minor discrepancies in numbers of deaths between NVDRS data and other data sources, like vital statistics data or the UCR. and Senior Services. NJVDRS includes all violent deaths where the fatal injury occurred in New Jersey, or the victim was a New Jersey resident regardless of the state of injury. Further information about the development of NVDRS and NJVDRS can be found in Appendix A. Data collection for NJVDRS began with January 1, 2003 deaths. Figure 1 shows a flowchart of a NJVDRS incident from initiation to completion and cites the source agencies. Project staff received training from CDC on how to enter data and structure incidents. The majority of incidents in New Jersey involve a single victim but there are several multi-victim and multivictim/multi-suspect homicides in NJVDRS (Figure 2). Unless otherwise indicated, this report will focus on deaths of New Jersey residents. Manner of Death Variation in the definition of the manner of death between data sources can also lead to discrepancies. For example, the UCR definition of homicide is slightly narrower than the NVDRS definition of homicide. Therefore, the annual numbers presented do not always match exactly. Additionally, UCR and other law enforcement sources generally report by occurrence, where NVDRS, like many public health reporting systems, tends to default to reporting on residents. The New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System New Jersey was one of the original six states to receive funding, and by 2007 there were 17 funded NVDRS programs. The New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System (NJVDRS) is housed in the Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention, Center for Health Statistics, Public Health Services Branch, New Jersey Department of Health About NVDRS 4 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Figure 1. Flowchart of NJVDRS data collection 1. Medical Examiner’s Report 2. Toxicology Report Source: RIME from the Office of the State Medical Examiner, NJDLPS 3. Death Certificate Source: State Bureau of Vital Statistics and Registration, NJDHSS LINK 4. Police incident reports Sources: SHR from UCR division, NJSP Police incident report from ViCAP (NJSP), county prosecutor and/or municipal police department 5. Ballistics Lab Source: NJSP YES Firearm used? NO NO 6. ATF Trace (optional) Victim(s) hospitalized? YES NO Child Victim(s)? NO Case complete YES 8. Child Fatality Review Module: Source: New Jersey Child Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board 7. Hospital utilization data Source: Hospital Financial Reporting, NJDHSS CDC Non-confidential data transmitted to CDC nightly Figure 2. Types of violent incidents in NJVDRS, 2003-2005 1% 2% 1% 8% Suicide Homicide, single victim Legal Intervention 54% 34% Murder-suicides Multiple victim homicide Other types of incident About NVDRS New Jersey resident and occurrent deaths are captured in the NJVDRS database. 3,367 total incidents from 2003-2005 data years. Data Source: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007. Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 5 Chapter 2 Violent Deaths Introduction Violent deaths in New Jersey represent a significant public health concern. Violence accounts for nearly one third of all injury deaths among New Jersey residents. Between 2003 and 2005, there were over 1,000 violent deaths each year among New Jersey residents (Table 2). More than half were suicides (Figure 3), with the majority of those suicides completed by males (Table 3). While NJVDRS collects data on both New Jersey resident and occurrent violent injuries, the vast majority of incidents are New Jersey residents injured within the borders of New Jersey (Table 4). New Jersey has relatively low violent death rates compared to other states, but since 2000, homicide rates have been rising fairly steadily after a period of sustained decline. The homicide rate in New Jersey in 2005 was 5.0 per 100,000, 32% higher than the rate in 2000 (3.8 per 100,000).5 The homicide rate for males in 2005 (8.2 per 100,000) was 6% higher than the rate in 2003 (7.7 per 100,000) (Table 3). In contrast, over the past several decades suicide rates have been declining nationally and in New Jersey. In New Jersey, suicide rates did rise slightly in 2004, but the rate resumed declining in 2005, and New Jersey suicide rates are lower than the national average. Within the state, rates are highest in the southern, more rural, areas of the state (Table 5). Table 2. All deaths in New Jersey, 2003-2005 2003 All deaths* All injury deaths* Unintentional injuries* Unintentional Firearm † Violent deaths Suicide † Homicide † Legal intervention† Undetermined intent† N 73,689 3,456 2,371 2 583 417 15 79 Rate 794.8 39.3 26.8 ** 6.6 4.9 ** 0.9 2004 N 71,371 3,385 2,324 622 398 21 73 Rate 752.7 38.1 25.8 7.0 4.7 0.3 0.8 2005 (Preliminary) N Rate 70,684 731.2 3,462 38.6 2,457 27.1 1 ** 553 415 13 93 6.2 5.0 ** 1.0 Violent Deaths 6 Includes deaths o f New Jersey residents, regardless o f state o f o ccurrence. ** Rates no t calculated fo r <20 o bservatio ns. Rates are per 1 00,000 po pulatio n and are age-adjusted using the 2000 US Standard P o pulatio n. Data so urces: *NCHS M ultiple Cause o f Death file (2003, 2004), New Jersey bureau o f Vital Statistics (2005); †New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007; NCHS B ridged Race Estimates fo r po pulatio n. 1 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention • Males were four times more likely to be the victim of a homicide and almost four times more likely to complete suicide than females. Figure 3. Violent deaths in New Jersey by manner, 2003-2005 0.1% 1% 7% Suicide Homicide 37% 55% Legal Intervention Unintentional Firearm Undetermined Intent Deaths from violence where the injury occurred in New Jersey. 3,320 total violent injuries from 2003-2005. Data Source: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007. Table 3. Violent death rates by gender, 2003-2005 2003 N Suicide Males Females Homicide Males Females 583 460 123 417 321 96 Rate 6.6 11.0 2.7 4.9 7.7 2.2 N 622 504 118 398 321 77 2004 Rate 7.0 11.9 2.6 4.7 7.6 1.7 N 553 426 127 415 342 73 2005 Rate 6.2 10.0 2.8 5.0 8.2 1.7 Violent Deaths Rates are per 1 00,000 po pulatio n and are age-adjusted using the 2000 US Standard P o pulatio n. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007; NCHS B ridged Race Estimates fo r po pulatio n. 1 Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 7 • From 2003 to 2005, 96% of homicides and 96% of suicides completed in New Jersey were New Jersey residents. Among New Jersey residents, suicides were slightly more likely to occur out-of-state than homicides. Table 4. New Jersey resident and occurrent deaths, 2003-2005 2003 Violent Deaths TOTAL (resident and occurrent) NJ residents injured in NJ NJ residents injured outside NJ Out-of-state residents injured in NJ Unknown residence state Unknown injury state Suicide TOTAL (resident and occurrent) NJ residents injured in NJ NJ residents injured outside NJ Out-of-state residents injured in NJ Unknown residence state Unknown injury state Homicide TOTAL (resident and occurrent) NJ residents injured in NJ NJ residents injured outside NJ Out-of-state residents injured in NJ Unknown residence state Unknown injury state Data so urce: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 2004 1,166 1,086 27 46 6 3 656 607 15 34 410 387 11 10 2 - 2005 1,114 1,045 22 36 11 571 542 10 17 2 433 401 10 17 5 1,147 1,053 30 49 2 14 608 557 19 25 7 437 406 8 19 1 3 Violent Deaths 8 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention • Homicide rates are highest in counties with urban areas and lower in more surbuban and rural counties. Suicide rates are highest in counties that have less densely populated, more rural areas. Table 5. Suicide and homicide rates by county of residence, 2003-2005 Suicide N Atlantic Bergen Burlington Camden Cape May Cumberland Essex Gloucester Hudson Hunterdon Mercer Middlesex Monmouth Morris Ocean Passaic Salem Somerset Sussex Union Warren Total* 72 161 98 177 31 44 123 64 89 28 68 136 139 80 144 90 16 54 33 86 21 1,758 Rate 8.8 5.7 7.2 11.4 10.1 9.6 5.2 7.6 4.9 7.1 6.1 5.6 7.2 5.5 8.4 6.1 ** 5.8 7.3 5.2 6.3 6.6 N 36 35 22 142 6 32 415 23 120 8 76 53 31 10 21 73 8 27 2 84 3 1,230 Homicide Rate 4.6 1.4 1.7 9.5 ** 7.0 17.6 2.8 6.3 ** 6.9 2.2 1.7 ** 1.3 5.0 ** 3.1 ** 5.5 ** 4.9 *To tal incl. 4 resident suicides with unkno wn co unty o f residence; 3 resident ho micides with unkno wn co unty o f residence. ** Rates no t calculated fo r <20 o bservatio ns. Rates are per 1 00,000 po pulatio n and are age-adjusted using the 2000 US Standard P o pulatio n. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007; NCHS B ridged Race Estimates fo r po pulatio n. 1 Violent Deaths Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 9 • Essex, Mercer, Hudson and Union are the only counties in which the homicide rate exceeded the suicide rate. Figure 4. Homicide and suicide rates by county, 2003-2005 20 Essex 15 Homicide Rate 10 Camden Mercer Hudson Cumberland 5 Union Passaic Atlantic Salem Somerset Middlesex Bergen Morris Gloucester Hunterdon Burlington, Monmouth Cape May Warren Ocean Sussex 0 0 5 10 Suicide Rate 15 20 Violent Deaths “o” denotes a point where one or both rates are based on <20 observations. Names of those counties are in gray. Data Source: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007; NCHS Bridged-Race Estimates for population. 10 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention • Suicide rates generally are highest in the less densely populated counties in southern and northwestern New Jersey. Figure 5. Suicide rates by county of residence, 2003-2005 SUSSEX 7.3 PASSAIC 6.1 BERGEN 5.7 WARREN 6.3 MORRIS 5.5 ESSEX 5.2 HUDSON 4.9 UNION 5.2 HUNTERDON 7.1 SOMERSET 5.8 MIDDLESEX 5.6 Suicide Rates 4.9 - 7.0 7.1 - 9.1 9.2 - 11.2 MERCER 6.1 MONMOUTH 7.2 BURLINGTON 7.2 CAMDEN 11.4 GLOUCESTER 7.6 OCEAN 8.4 SALEM ** ATLANTIC 8.8 CUMBERLAND 9.6 CAPE MAY 10.1 Violent Deaths ** Rates not calculated for <20 observations. Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 11 • Homicide rates are higher in counties with urban areas. Figure 6. Homicide rates by county of residence, 2003-2005 SUSSEX ** PASSAIC 5.0 BERGEN 1.4 WARREN ** MORRIS ** ESSEX 17.7 HUDSON 6.3 UNION 5.5 HUNTERDON ** SOMERSET 3.1 MIDDLESEX 2.2 Homicide Rates 1.3 - 6.8 6.9 - 12.2 12.3 - 17.7 MERCER 6.9 MONMOUTH 1.7 BURLINGTON 1.7 CAMDEN 9.5 GLOUCESTER 2.8 SALEM ** ATLANTIC 4.6 CUMBERLAND 7.0 OCEAN 1.3 CAPE MAY ** Violent Deaths ** Rates not calculated for <20 observations. 12 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention • Both homicide and suicide rates are higher among males. Violent deaths have a pronounced age pattern among males, but not females. Homicide rates peak dramatically in young adulthood, while suicide rates rise in middle age and then again among the older population. Figure 7. Age-specific suicide rates, males and females, 2003-2005 25 Rate per 100,000 20 15 10 5 0 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 Age in years 55-64 65-74 75+ All M ale Fem ale Rates are combined three-year average rates per 100,000 age-specific population. Data Sources: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007; NCHS bridged-race estimates for population Figure 8. Age-specific homicide rates, males and females, 2003-2005 25 Rate per 100,000 20 15 10 5 0 Under 15 15-24 25-34 35-44 Age in years Violent Deaths 45-54 55-64 65+ All Male Female Rates are combined three-year average rates per 100,000 age-specific population. Data Sources: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007; NCHS bridged-race estimates for population Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 13 • White males have the highest suicide rates; black males have the highest homicide rates. Figure 9. Suicide rates by race/ethnicity, 2003-2005 10 Rate per 100,000 8 6 4 2 0 ** 2003 2004 Year 2005 White Black Asian/PI Hispanic ** Rates not calculated for <20 observations. Data Source: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007; NCHS Bridged-Race Estimates for population. Figure 10. Homicide rates by race/ethnicity, 2003-2005 25 Rate per 100,000 20 15 10 5 0 Violent Deaths 2003 White 2004 Year 2005 Hispanic Black Rates for Asian/PacificIslanders are not shown because of small numbers each year. Data Source: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007; NCHS Bridged-Race Estimates for population. 14 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention • Suicides were most often completed through suffocation, firearms or poisoning. Firearms were the most frequently used weapons in homicides, followed by sharp instruments, such as knives. Firearms were used in 61% percent of homicides and nearly 30% of suicides in New Jersey. Figure 11. Weapons/mechanisms used in New Jersey violent deaths, 2003-2005 Suicide Firearm 22% 4% Suffocation* Poisoning 36% 13% 3% 2% 2% 29% 2% 0.1% Sharp instrument Fall Train collision Drowning Other weapon/mechanism Unknown Homicide Firearm 18% 7% 4% Sharp instrument Personal weapons 14% 61% 4% 1% 1% 3% 1% Suffocation* Blunt instrument Poisoning Shaken baby Other weapon/mechanism Unknown Violent Deaths *Suffocation includes hanging, strangling, and suffocation. Percents are based on 1.758 NJ resident suicides and 1,230 NJ resident homicides. Data Source: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007. Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 15 • The majority of suicides occurred in a residence; homicides were most likely to occur either in the street or at a residence. Table 6. Location of injury by manner, 2003-2005 Suicide All deaths House, apartment Street Highway Motor vehicle Bar, nightclub Store or other business, factory, office Parking lot, parking garage Abandoned house/building School (Elementary, High, Unspec.) College Public transportation Church Hospital Supervised residential facility Jail, prison Park, playground Natural area (field, river, beach) Hotel/motel Railroad tracks Other known locations of injury Unknown location N 1,758 1,290 28 11 46 21 32 3 3 16 1 12 5 40 24 82 52 25 43 24 % 100 73.4 1.6 0.6 2.6 1.2 1.8 0.2 0.2 0.9 0.1 0.7 0.3 2.3 1.4 4.7 3.0 1.4 2.4 1.4 Homicide N % 1,230 100 431 35.0 476 38.7 21 1.7 41 3.3 33 2.7 39 3.2 36 2.9 6 0.5 3 0.2 3 0.2 2 0.2 14 1.1 3 0.2 7 0.6 17 1.4 10 0.8 4 0.3 44 3.6 40 3.3 Undetermined N % 245 100 148 60.4 9 3.7 6 2.4 6 2.4 1 0.4 2 0.8 1 0.4 1 0.4 2 0.8 2 0.8 3 1.2 28 11.4 11 4.5 8 3.3 17 6.9 N and percent are based o n lo catio n o f injury o f New Jersey resident deaths. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007; NCHS B ridged Race Estimates fo r po pulatio n. 1 Violent Deaths 16 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Violent Deaths among Children Violent death rates among children are lower in New Jersey compared to the rest of the United States for all intents (homicide, suicide, and deaths of undetermined intent). This is especially true for suicide and deaths of undetermined intent with New Jersey having the second lowest rate in the country for persons up to 19 years of age between 2000 and 2004. Violent death rates are highest for youth ages 15 to 19 years, and for blacks (Table 7). However, whites have the highest rates for suicide. Both in New Jersey and in the United States as a whole, suicide is the leading cause of intentional injury death in children aged 10 to 14 but drops to the second behind homicide for youth ages 15 to 19 years.6 NVDRS collects the same information on deaths among children as it does for adults. However, deaths among children represent an issue of particular concern, so there is an additional module, the Child Fatality Review Module (CFR), that collects additional information from a state’s child fatality review board. Table 7. Violent deaths among children, 2003-2005 2003 N Total Under 1 year old 1 to 4 years 5 to 9 years 10 to 14 years 15 to 19 years White Black Asian/Pacific Islander Hispanic Other specified race Unknown Male Female 88 8 6 6 7 61 26 39 1 20 1 1 67 21 % 100 9.1 6.8 6.8 8.0 69.3 29.5 44.3 1.1 22.7 1.1 1.1 76.1 23.9 2004 N % 108 100 8 7.4 8 7.4 3 2.8 9 8.3 80 74.1 34 31.5 50 46.3 1 0.9 22 20.4 1 0.9 90 83.3 18 16.7 2005 N % 101 100 11 10.9 4 4.0 4 4.0 13 12.9 69 68.3 38 37.6 48 47.5 15 14.9 80 79.2 21 20.8 Violent Deaths among Children New Jersey resident child deaths, ages 0 to 1 years. 9 Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 17 • Between 2003 to 2005, 122 New Jersey children were killed with a firearm. Table 8. Manner of violent deaths among children, 2003-2005 Suicide N % 85 100 14 16.5 71 83.5 60 70.6 10 11.8 2 2.4 11 12.9 1 1.2 11 12.9 69 81.2 16 18.8 Homicide N % 197 100 23 11.7 16 8.1 13 6.6 14 7.1 131 66.5 31 15.7 120 60.9 45 22.8 45 22.8 158 80.2 39 19.8 Legal Intervention N % 2 100 2 100.0 1 50.0 1 50.0 1 50.0 2 100.0 Undetermined intent N % 13 100 4 30.8 2 15.4 1 7.7 6 46.2 7 53.8 6 46.2 8 61.5 8 61.5 5 38.5 Total Under 1 year old 1 to 4 years 5 to 9 years 10 to 14 years 15 to 19 years White Black Asian/Pacific Islander Hispanic Other specified race Unknown Male Female New Jersey resident child deaths. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Table 9. Weapons/mechanisms used in violent deaths among children, 2003-2005 Violent Deaths among Children Total Firearm Sharp instrument Blunt instrument Poisoning Suffocation* Personal weapons Fall Fire or burns Shaking (baby) Other known weapons Unknown Suicide † Ages 10-14 Ages 15-19 N N % % 14 100 71 100 12 16.9 7 9.9 13 92.9 44 62.0 1 5 7.1 7.0 1 1.4 2 2.8 - Ages 0-9 N % 52 2 3 4 1 5 15 5 11 2 4 100 3.8 5.8 7.7 1.9 9.6 28.8 9.6 21.2 3.8 7.7 Homicide Ages 10-14 N % 14 100 6 42.9 3 21.4 1 7.1 1 7.1 1 7.1 1 7.1 1 7.1 Ages 15-19 N % 131 100 102 77.9 18 13.7 2 1.5 2 1.5 4 3.1 2 1.5 1 0.8 New Jersey resident child deaths. *Suffo catio n includes hanging, strangling, and suffo catio n. †No suicides are repo rted fo r children ages 0-9 years. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 18 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention • Most suicides among children and adolescents occurred in a residence, while most homicides were equally likely to occur in the street or in a residence. This is similar to the location of suicide and homicide overall. Figure 12. Location of injury for violent deaths among New Jersey children, 2003-2005 Suicide 4% 4% 4% Home 8% 2% Street Natural area Jail/Custody Other Unknown 78% Homicide 2%3% 2% 6% 6% Violent Deaths among Children 38% Home Street Park Parking lot Motor vehicle Other 43% Unknown Data are for suicides of New Jersey resident children. Data Source: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007. Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 19 Child Fatality Review Team The New Jersey Child Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board (NJCFNFRB) is administered by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. Not all deaths among children are investigated by NJCFNFRB, so the module is only completed on those deaths for which a review process was completed by the board. Cases for review by the board are drawn from deaths among children where the child is 17 or under at the time of death; excluding natural deaths, and certain gangrelated and motor vehicle-related deaths. The review also includes a determination of whether the board agrees with the official manner of death and if the board believes the death to have been preventable (Table 10). Of the NJVDRS cases reviewed, the board agreed with the manner over 90% of the time and determined the deaths to be at least possibly preventable in 70% of homicides and 40% of suicides. Table 10. Child Fatality Review Team decisions, 2003-2005 Suicide % 52 100 44 84.6 18 14 4 8 9 9 NA 42 13 18 10 40.9 31.8 28.6 18.2 20.5 20.5 95.5 29.5 40.9 22.7 Homicide N % 117 100 48 41.0 23 27 7 2 9 13 31 45 7 34 4 47.9 56.3 25.9 4.2 18.8 27.1 64.6 93.8 14.6 70.8 8.3 N Total Child Deaths (Ages 0-17 years) Reviewed by Child Fatality Review Of those deaths reviewed: Prior system contacts (health, justice, public assistance, etc.) Prior child protective servcies contacts: Prior report on victim's household? Was report substantiated? Victim illness or disability? Intimate partner violence in victim's home/foster home Substance abuse in victim's home/foster home Victim supervised by perpetrator Child Fatality Review conclusion matches death certificate Child Fatality Review determination of preventability Probably not preventable Possibly preventable CFR unable to determine preventability New Jersey resident child deaths. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Violent Deaths among Children 20 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Chapter 3 Suicide Introduction There were on average approximately 580 suicides of New Jersey residents annually between 2003 and 2005. The number of suicides in New Jersey exceeded 600 in 2004, the first time it has been that high since the late 1980’s, but came back down again in 2005. In New Jersey, suicide was the 3rd leading cause of injury death for persons aged 25 to 44 years, and the 2nd leading cause for persons aged 45 to 54 years between 2000 and 2004. In comparison, nationwide suicide was the 2nd leading cause and the leading cause respectively for the same ages.7 Male suicide rates are considerably higher than are those of females (Table 11), both in New Jersey and throughout the nation. Rates for males tend to rise with age and are the highest in middle age and among men 65 years and older. The female suicide rate does not fluctuate as much throughout life, as the male rate does. Table 11. Suicide by gender and age, New Jersey, 2003-2005 2003 N Rate 460 11.0 3 ** 49 8.9 72 12.8 91 12.9 95 15.6 75 18.3 75 16.5 123 2.7 1 ** 11 ** ** 14 28 3.9 27 4.2 22 4.9 20 3.0 583 6.6 2004 N Rate 504 11.9 5 ** 62 10.9 74 13.4 120 17.1 109 17.6 58 13.8 76 16.7 118 2.6 1 ** 14 ** 18 ** 27 3.8 23 3.5 14 ** 21 3.1 622 7.0 2005 N Rate 426 10.0 4 ** 65 11.2 57 10.6 87 12.6 92 14.5 48 11.1 72 15.7 127 2.8 9 ** 22 4.2 31 4.4 24 3.6 20 4.2 21 3.1 553 6.2 2003-2005 N Rate 1,390 11.0 12 ** 176 10.3 203 12.3 298 14.2 296 15.9 181 14.3 223 16.3 368 2.7 2 ** 34 2.1 54 3.3 86 4.0 74 3.8 56 4.0 62 3.1 1,758 6.6 Males Under 15 years 15-24 years 25-34 years 35-44 years 45-54 years 55-64 years 65+ years Females Under 15 years 15-24 years 25-34 years 35-44 years 45-54 years 55-64 years 65+ Total ** Rates no t calculated fo r <20 o bservatio ns. Rates are per 1 00,000 po pulatio n and are age-specific o r age-adjusted using the 2000 US Standard P o pulatio n. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007; NCHS B ridged-Race Estimates fo r po pulatio n. 1 Suicide Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 21 • Suicide rates were the highest among whites for both males and females, but difference by race and ethnicity is greater among males. Figure 13. Suicide rates by gender and race/ethnicity, 2003-2005 15 Rate per 100,000 10 5 0 Males Year Females Black Asian/PI Hispanic White Race categories are White, Black and Asian/Pacific Islander, all non-Hispanic; Hispanics can be of any race. Data Source: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007. NCHS Bridged-Race Estimates for population. Circumstance Information NJVDRS collects information on the circumstances surrounding suicides, abstracted from the narratives of law enforcement and medical examiner reports. A single suicide can have one or many circumstances reported. Between 2003 and 2005, some information about circumstances was known in about 85% of suicides. Circumstance information may be missing because medical examiner and/or law enforcement records were not available to project staff; or because no circumstances were recorded. Only circumstances clearly expressed within one of the data sources are recorded in NJVDRS. Suicide 22 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention • The most frequently cited suicide circumstances were related to mental health problems, followed by a recent crisis and intimate partner problems. Table 12. Suicide circumstances by gender, 2003-2005 Males N % 1,390 100 1,179 84.8 472 457 332 390 196 188 388 214 261 326 130 279 65 20 322 88 147 22 83 52 56 8 36 40.0 38.8 28.2 33.1 16.6 15.9 32.9 18.2 22.1 27.7 11.0 23.7 5.5 1.7 27.3 7.5 12.5 1.9 7.0 4.4 4.7 0.7 3.1 Females N % 368 100 319 86.7 128 207 172 189 45 42 121 92 66 68 19 81 26 5 71 22 20 3 14 9 4 8 8 40.1 64.9 53.9 59.2 14.1 13.2 37.9 28.8 20.7 21.3 6.0 25.4 8.2 1.6 22.3 6.9 6.3 0.9 4.4 2.8 1.3 2.5 2.5 Total N % 1,758 100 1,498 85.2 600 664 504 579 241 230 509 306 327 394 149 360 91 25 393 110 167 25 97 61 60 16 44 40.1 44.3 33.6 38.7 16.1 15.4 34.0 20.4 21.8 26.3 9.9 24.0 6.1 1.7 26.2 7.3 11.1 1.7 6.5 4.1 4.0 1.1 2.9 Total suicides Circumstances present Of suicides with circumstances present: Current depressed mood Current mental health problem Current mental health treatment Ever treated for mental illness Alcohol problem Substance abuse problem Left a suicide note History of suicide attempts Disclosed intent to complete suicide Crisis within two weeks Financial problem Physical health problem Death of friend/family in past 5 years Suicide of friend/family in past 5 years Intimate partner problem Other relationship problem Job problem School problem Recent criminal legal problem Legal problem (not criminal) Perpetrator of violence in past month Victim of violence in past month Other suicide circumstance Data so urce: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Suicide Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 23 • Females were more likely than males to have received treatment for mental illness, while males were more likely to be experiencing job or financial problems or an intimate partner problem. Figure 14. Gender differences for reported circumstances of suicide, 2003-2005 60% Percent suicides* 40% 20% 0% Current Current treatment depressed for mental mood illness Financial problem Physical health problem Intimate partner problem Recent criminal legal problem Job problem Males Females *Sex-specific percentage calculated among suicides with known circumstances. Male Total = 1,390, Circ known = 1,179 (84.8%); Female Total = 368, Circ known = 319 (86.7%). Data Sources: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007. Suicide 24 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention • Substance abuse problems, disclosing intent, and a history of previous suicide attempts all decreased with age. Table 13. Mental health suicide circumstances by age groups, 2003-2005 24 and under N % 224 100 181 80.8 71 69 52 68 24 48 39.2 38.1 28.7 37.6 13.3 26.5 25-44 N % 641 100 548 85.5 210 252 180 216 111 128 38.3 46.0 32.8 39.4 20.3 23.4 45-64 N % 607 100 521 85.8 209 259 203 226 95 51 40.1 49.7 39.0 43.4 18.2 9.8 65 and older N % 285 100 248 87.0 110 84 69 69 11 3 44.4 33.9 27.8 27.8 4.4 1.2 Total suicides Circumstances present Of suicides with circumstances present: Current depressed mood Current mental health problem Current mental health treatment Ever treated for mental illness Alcohol problem Substance abuse problem Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Table 14. Previous suicide history by age groups, 2003-2005 24 and under N % 224 100 181 80.8 53 56 47 29.3 30.9 26.0 25-44 N % 641 100 548 85.5 133 175 130 24.3 31.9 23.7 45-64 N % 607 100 521 85.8 92 185 108 17.7 35.5 20.7 65 and older N % 285 100 248 87.0 49 93 21 19.8 37.5 8.5 Total suicides Circumstances present Of suicides with circumstances present: Disclosed intent to complete suicide Left a suicide note History of suicide attempts Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Suicide Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 25 • Intimate partner problems and a “recent crisis” are leading circumstances of suicides among younger adults. A physical health problem is the most frequently cited suicide circumstance for adults aged 65 years and older. Table 15. Relationship and life event problems by age groups, 2003-2005 24 and under N % 224 100 181 80.8 74 68 46 10 9 7 11 22 8 7 4 18 11 40.9 37.6 25.4 5.5 5.0 3.9 6.1 12.2 4.4 3.9 2.2 9.9 6.1 25-44 N 641 548 161 216 33 25 10 75 77 3 68 23 8 53 29 % 100 85.5 29.4 39.4 6.0 4.6 1.8 13.7 14.1 0.5 12.4 4.2 1.5 9.7 5.3 45-64 N 607 521 121 226 27 28 3 124 74 66 22 4 24 18 % 100 85.8 23.2 43.4 5.2 5.4 0.6 23.8 14.2 12.7 4.2 0.8 4.6 3.5 65 and older N % 285 100 248 87.0 38 69 4 28 3 154 5 7 8 2 3 15.3 27.8 1.6 11.3 1.2 62.1 2.0 2.8 3.2 0.8 1.2 Total suicides Circumstances present Of suicides with circumstances present: Recent crisis (within two weeks) Intimate partner problem Other relationship problem Death of friend/family in past 5 years Suicide of friend/family in past 5 years Physical health problem Job problem School problem Financial problem Perpetrator of violence in past month Victim of violence in past month Recent criminal legal problem Legal problem (not criminal) Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Suicide 26 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention • The leading means of suicide are suffocation, firearms and poisoning. Firearms are used less frequently in New Jersey suicides compared to the United States as a whole. Figure 15. Major weapons/mechanisms used in New Jersey suicides, 2003-2005 Males Firearm 17% 37% 3% 14% 2% 3% 33% 1% 4% Suffocation* Poisoning Sharp instrument Fall Train collision Other weapon/mechanism Unknown Females 43% Firearm 4% 3% 13% 2% 9% Suffocation* Poisoning Sharp instrument Fall Train collision Other weapon/mechanism 35% 4% Suicide *Suffocation includes hanging, strangling, and suffocation. Percents are based on 1.758 NJ resident suicides and 1,230 NJ resident homicides. Data Source: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007. Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 27 • Overall suicide rates at the county level are correlated to rates of firearm ownership‡. Firearm ownership is also highly correlated with firearm suicide at the county level‡‡. Table 16. Firearm presence* in the home and suicide rates , New Jersey, 2003-2005 Suicides County of Residence Atlantic Bergen Burlington Camden Cape May Cumberland Essex Gloucester Hudson Hunterdon Mercer Middlesex Monmouth Morris Ocean Passaic Salem Somerset Sussex Union Warren Unknown New Jersey Total N 72 161 98 177 31 44 123 64 89 28 68 136 139 80 144 90 16 54 33 86 21 4 1,758 Rate 8.8 5.7 7.2 11.4 10.1 9.6 5.2 7.6 4.9 7.1 6.1 5.6 7.2 5.5 8.4 6.1 ** 5.8 7.3 5.2 6.3 6.6 % Firearm Ownership % 12.3 10.4 16.0 13.2 18.3 19.9 8.3 16.6 3.9 23.4 10.5 9.3 8.9 10.5 12.5 9.0 26.4 10.4 22.2 8.0 24.6 11.4 Firearm Suicide N 20 34 36 56 9 14 25 23 21 8 22 26 37 24 46 32 7 10 15 26 10 1 502 % Suicides 27.8 21.1 36.7 31.6 29.0 31.8 20.3 35.9 23.6 28.6 32.4 19.1 26.6 30.0 31.9 35.6 43.8 18.5 45.5 30.2 47.6 25.0 28.6 † ** Rates no t calculated fo r <20 o bservatio ns. Rates are age-adjusted using the 2000 US Standard P o pulatio n. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007; New Jersey B ehavio ral Risk Facto r Survey, 2004; NCHS fo r bridged1 race po pulatio n estimates * Suicide Percentage with a firearm in or around the home. Firearms include pistols, shotguns, and rifles. Excluded are BB guns, starter pistols, and guns that cannot fire. Also included are weapons kept in a garage, outdoor storage area, or motor vehicle. † All ages are included in rates. ‡ r = .44; ‡‡r = .71 28 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention • Counties with the highest suicide rates (Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, and Ocean) had above average rates of firearm ownership, and all except Atlantic had above average rates of firearm suicide. Figure 16. Firearm presence* in the home and suicide rates†, New Jersey, 2003-2005 In New Jersey, an estimated 11.4% of the population have a firearm in or around the home. The state's age-adjusted suicide rate is 6.6 per 100,000 population. WARREN SUSSEX PASSAIC BERGEN MORRIS ESSEX UNION HUNTERDON HUDSON Legend SOMERSET MIDDLESEX Firearm In or Around Home (%) 3.9 - 10.5 10.6 – 18.3 18.4 - 26.4 MERCER MONMOUTH Suicide Rate (per 100,000) 4.9 - 6.3 BURLINGTON OCEAN 6.4 - 8.8 8.9 - 11.4 GLOUCESTER CAMDEN SALEM ATLANTIC CUMBERLAND CAPE MAY * Percentage with a firearm in or around the home. Firearms include pistols, shotguns, and rifles. Excluded are BB guns, starter pistols, and guns that cannot fire. Also included are weapons kept in a garage, outdoor storage area, or motor vehicle. † All ages are included in rates. Suicide Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 29 • Most suicides occur in a residence, but suicides among males are somewhat more likely to occur in alternative locations, such as natural areas, in motor vehicles or hotel rooms. Table 17. Suicide injury locations by gender, 2003-2005 Males N % 1,390 100 980 70.5 23 1.7 10 0.7 41 2.9 19 1.4 30 2.2 2 0.1 3 0.2 11 0.8 1 0.1 10 0.7 4 0.3 38 2.7 22 1.6 70 5.0 45 3.2 22 1.6 35 2.5 18 1.3 N Females % 368 100 310 84.2 5 1.4 1 0.3 5 1.4 2 0.5 2 0.5 1 0.3 5 1.4 2 0.5 1 0.3 2 0.5 2 0.5 12 3.3 7 1.9 3 0.8 2 0.5 6 1.6 All deaths House, apartment Street Highway Motor vehicle Store or other business, factory, office Parking lot, parking garage School (Elementary, High, Unspec.) College Public transportation Church Hospital Supervised residential facility Jail, prison Park, playground Natural area (field, river, beach) Hotel/motel Railroad tracks Other known locations of injury Unknown location N and percent are based o n lo catio n o f injury o f New Jersey resident deaths. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007; NCHS B ridged Race Estimates fo r po pulatio n. 1 Suicide 30 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Figure 17. New Jersey suicides by victim residence, 2003-2005 Legend Cities Ò Suicides by residence Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò New York Ò Ò Ò Natural Areas Stream/River Swamp/Marsh Forest, Park, or Refuge Major Lakes (State) Sussex Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Military Installation Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Passaic Ò Ò Bergen ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò New Jersey County Boundaries Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Urban Areas PatersonÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Population Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒÒÒ ÒÒÒÒÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Under 200,000 ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Warren ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò 200,001 - 500,000 Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Morris Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò 500,001 - 150,000 ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Hudson Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ EssexÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒÒ Ò Ò NewarkÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ 150,001 - 500,000 ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ New York City Ò Ò ÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Metro Area ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒÒ Ò Over 500,000 Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Jersey City Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Union ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Elizabeth Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Hunterdon Somerset Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò New Brunswick Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ MiddlesexÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Mercer Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒMonmouth Ò Ò Ò ÒAsbury Park Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒTrenton Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Levittown Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Philadelphia Metro Area Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Toms River Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Camden Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ocean Ò Ò Ò Burlington Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Camden Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Gloucester Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Salem Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Vineland ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Atlantic Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Atlantic City ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Cumberland ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Landmarks Pennsylvania Delaware Cape May Ò Ò Ò Maryland Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò AT L AN TI C OC EA N Suicide Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò 0 5 10 Miles 20 − Ò Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 31 Figure 18. New Jersey suicide occurrences, not in the victim’s residence, 2003-2005 Legend Cities Suicide by location except victim's residence ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Natural Area, Park, Playground, Public Use Area Other House, Apartment Hotel, Motel Public Transit or Station, Train Tracks Jail, Prison Motor Vehicle All other locations New York ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Sussex ! Passaic ! ! ! ! Natural Areas Stream/River Swamp/Marsh Forest, Park, or Refuge Major Lakes (State) ! ! Landmarks Military Installation New Jersey County Boundaries Urban Areas Population Under 200,000 200,001 - 500,000 500,001 - 150,000 150,001 - 500,000 Over 500,000 ! ! ! Pennsylvania Philadelphia Metro Area ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! !! ! !! ! ! ! !! ! !! ! Warren !!! ! ! Morris ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! Hudson ! Essex !! ! ! Newark !! ! !! ! New York City ! ! ! ! ! !!! ! ! !!! !! !! ! Metro Area ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! Jersey City !! ! ! !! Union !! ! ! ! ! ! ! Elizabeth ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Hunterdon Somerset ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! New Brunswick ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! Middlesex ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Mercer ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Monmouth ! !Asbury Park ! ! !Trenton ! ! ! ! !! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! Levittown !! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! Paterson ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Bergen ! ! !! !! Camden ! ! ! !! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! Toms River ! ! ! Burlington ! ! Ocean Camden ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! Salem ! ! ! Vineland ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Atlantic ! Atlantic !! !! ! ! Delaware Maryland ! ! ! ! Cape May ! Suicide ! ! 0 5 10 Miles 20 − Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention 32 AT L Cumberland !! ! City AN T ! IC OC EA N Gloucester ! ! ! ! Chapter 4 Homicide Introduction Between 2000 and 2004, homicide was the second leading cause of death behind motor vehicle crashes for persons aged 15 to 24 in New Jersey. This was also the case for the nation as a whole. New Jersey’s rate (5.9 per 100,000) is slightly lower than the overall rate for the United States (6.2 per 100,000)8. Males have higher rates for homicide than females, and the highest rates are among young men (Table 18). Death rates for legal intervention (a type of homicide where someone is killed by a police officer in the line of duty) were also lower in New Jersey than the Unites States for the same period (0.05 versus 0.13 per 100,000)8. All deaths from legal intervention in New Jersey between 2003 and 2005 were males and most were between the ages of 15 and 34 years. Homicide and legal intervention victims were also disproportionately likely to be black (Table 19). Table 18. Homicide by gender and age, New Jersey, 2003-2005 2003 N Rate 321 7.7 14 ** 106 19.2 85 15.1 53 7.5 31 5.1 31 3.6 96 2.2 6 ** 16 ** 21 3.8 21 2.9 16 ** 15 ** 417 4.9 2004 N Rate 321 7.6 13 ** 116 20.4 102 18.5 43 6.1 22 3.5 22 2.5 77 1.7 7 ** 9 ** 18 ** 16 ** 9 ** 17 ** 398 4.7 2005 N Rate 342 8.2 12 ** 109 18.8 129 23.9 47 6.8 22 3.5 22 2.5 73 1.7 9 ** 11 ** 11 ** 23 3.3 10 ** 7 ** 415 5.0 Legal Intervention 2003-2005 2003-2005 N Rate N % 984 7.8 49 100 39 1.4 331 19.4 14 28.6 316 19.1 19 38.8 143 6.8 8 16.3 75 4.0 4 8.2 75 2.8 4 8.2 246 1.9 No legal intervention 22 0.8 deaths 2003-2005 36 2.2 50 3.1 60 2.8 35 1.8 40 1.2 1,230 4.9 Males Under 15 years 15-24 years 25-34 years 35-44 years 45-54 years 55+ Females Under 15 years 15-24 years 25-34 years 35-44 years 45-54 years 55+ Total Rates are per 1 00,000 po pulatio n and are age-specific o r age-adjusted using the 2000 US Standard P o pulatio n. ** Rates no t calculated fo r <20 o bservatio ns. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007; NCHS B ridged Race Estimates fo r po pulatio n. 1 Homicide Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 33 • Black males have far higher homicide rates than do other groups. Table 19. Homicide rates by gender and race/ethnicity, 2003-2005 2003 N Rate 321 7.7 61 2.2 197 33.7 5 ** 2 ** 56 8.1 96 2.2 35 1.2 42 6.5 1 ** 1 ** 16 ** 1 417 4.9 2004 N Rate 321 7.6 43 1.6 198 33.0 3 ** 5 ** 68 9.0 1 77 1.7 23 0.7 34 5.4 3 ** 1 ** 13 ** 3 398 4.7 2005 N Rate 342 8.2 46 1.7 221 37.7 2 ** 9 ** 64 8.1 73 1.7 25 0.9 29 4.7 2 ** 2 ** 14 ** 1 ** 415 5.0 Legal Intervention 2003-2005 N % 49 100 12 24.5 27 55.1 10 20.4 No legal intervention deaths 2003-2005 Males White Black Asian/Pacific Islander Other specified race Hispanic Unknown Females White Black Asian/Pacific Islander Other specified race Hispanic Unknown Total **Rates no t calculated fo r <20 o bservatio ns. Rates are per 1 00,000 po pulatio n and age-adjusted using the 2000 US Standard P o pulatio n. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007; NCHS B ridged Race Estimates fo r po pulatio n. 1 Figure 19. Homicide rates by gender and race/ethnicity, 2003-2005 40 Rate per 100,000 30 20 10 0 Males Year Females Homicide White Black Hispanic Rates are per 100,000 populations and are age-adjusted using the 2000 US Standard Population. Data Source: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007; NCHS Bridged Race Estimates for population. 34 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Relationship and Circumstance Information Circumstances were known in 61% of homicides between 2003 and 2005. Information on the relationship between the suspect and the victim was known in 53% of homicides where the victim was male and 77% of homicides with a female victim (Table 20). NJVDRS collects information on whether or not the homicide was precipitated by another crime, the type of that crime, and whether or not it was in progress at the time of the homicide. Additional examples of circumstances for homicides include whether the homicide was drug or gangrelated, intimate partner violence-related, or if the homicide was a drive-by or an example of random violence. Table 20. Relationship of homicide victims to suspects, 2003-2005 Male victims N = 982 No suspect Acquaintance Stranger Rival gang member Current or former GF/BF Roommate Child or grandchild Friend Parent or grandparent Other family member* Sibling Current or former spouse Stepparent, IP of S's parent Stepchild, child of S GF/BF Current or former co-worker LE officer, line of duty Other person, known to V† Relationship unknown N 296 152 168 24 16 13 15 18 10 10 8 8 4 5 2 2 68 163 % 30.1 15.5 17.1 2.4 1.6 1.3 1.5 1.8 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.2 6.9 16.6 Female victims N = 246 N No suspect 43 Current or former GF/BF 51 Current or former spouse 37 Parent or grandparent 11 Stranger 22 Child or grandchild 12 Acquaintance 19 Stepchild, child of S GF/BF 4 Friend 5 Rival gang member 2 Stepparent, IP of S's parent 1 Other family member* 4 Sibling 1 Roommate 0 Current or former co-worker 0 LE officer, line of duty 1 Other person, known to V† 19 Relationship unknown 14 % 17.5 20.7 15.0 4.5 8.9 4.9 7.7 1.6 2.0 0.8 0.4 1.6 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.4 7.7 5.7 Homicide GF = Girlfriend, B F = B o yfriend, IP = Intimate partner, S = Suspect, V = Victim, LE = Law enfo rcement A nswers the questio n "The victim is the _________ o f the suspect". *Includes in-laws, co usins, nieces and nephews. †Includes babysitters and o ther perso ns kno wn to victim Data so urce: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 35 • More than a quarter of homicides in which circumstances are known are precipitated by another crime. Of those, a large percentage is robbery. Table 21. Homicide circumstances by gender, 2003-2005 Males N % 984 100.0 579 58.8 46 201 163 73 4 3 15 2 42 22 20 36 126 68 1 13 16 5 33 7.9 34.7 28.2 12.6 0.7 0.5 2.6 0.3 7.3 3.8 3.5 6.2 21.8 11.7 0.2 2.2 2.8 0.9 5.7 Females N % 246 100.0 176 71.5 9 29 33 16 1 16 1 100 11 3 19 6 13 2 2 20 5.1 16.5 18.8 9.1 0.6 9.1 0.6 56.8 6.3 1.7 10.8 3.4 7.4 1.1 1.1 11.4 Total N % 1,230 100.0 755 61.4 55 230 196 89 4 4 31 3 142 33 20 39 145 74 1 26 18 7 53 7.3 30.5 26.0 11.8 0.5 0.5 4.1 0.4 18.8 4.4 2.6 5.2 19.2 9.8 0.1 3.4 2.4 0.9 7.0 Total homicide Circumstances present Of homicides with circumstances present: Argument over money or property Other argument, abuse or conflict* Precipitated by another crime Precipitating crime in progress Justifiable homicide/law enforcement Victim was intervening Victim was a bystander Victim was a police officer on duty Intimate partner violence-related Jealousy (lover's triangle) Brawl (mutual physical fight) Drive-by shooting Drug dealing or illegal drug use Gang activities Hate crime Mentally ill suspect Victim used a weapon Random violence Other specified homicide circumstance *Includes child and elder abuse, and any argument that is no t repo rted as an argument o ver mo ney o r pro perty, o r intimate partner vio lence. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Homicide 36 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention • The number of homicides related to intimate partner violence was highest at ages 35-54 years, while most other homicide circumstances declined. Table 22. Street crimes as homicide circumstances, 2003-2005 Age of Victim 14 and under N % 66 100.0 58 87.9 3 9 6 5 1 4 3 5.2 15.5 10.3 8.6 1.7 6.9 5.2 15-34 years N % 733 100.0 416 56.8 35 102 46 3 3 13 17 33 92 65 1 12 2 8.4 24.5 11.1 0.7 0.7 3.1 4.1 7.9 22.1 15.6 0.2 2.9 0.5 35-54 years N % 313 100.0 199 63.6 13 57 23 1 1 7 3 3 4 41 4 6 3 6.5 28.6 11.6 0.5 0.5 3.5 1.5 1.5 2.0 20.6 2.0 3.0 1.5 55 and older N % 115 100.0 82 71.3 4 28 14 6 1 8 2 2 4.9 34.1 17.1 7.3 1.2 9.8 2.4 2.4 Total homicide Circumstances present Of homicides with circumstances present: Argument over money or property Precipitated by another crime Precipitating crime in progress Justifiable homicide/law enforcement Victim was intervening Victim was a bystander Victim was a police officer on duty Brawl (mutual physical fight) Drive-by shooting Drug dealing or illegal drug use Gang activities Hate crime Victim used a weapon Random violence Data so urce: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Table 23. Family violence and other homicide circumstances, 2003-2005 Age of Victim 14 and under N % 66 100.0 58 87.9 41 7 6 14 70.7 12.1 10.3 24.1 15-34 years N % 733 100.0 416 56.8 131 53 23 1 14 31.5 12.7 5.5 0.2 3.4 35-54 years N % 313 100.0 199 63.6 45 60 10 8 8 22.6 30.2 5.0 4.0 4.0 55 and older N % 115 100.0 82 71.3 13 22 11 17 15.9 26.8 13.4 20.7 Total homicide Circumstances present Of homicides with circumstances present: Other argument, abuse or conflict* Intimate partner violence-related Jealousy (lover's triangle) Mentally ill suspect Other homicide circumstance Homicide *Includes child and elder abuse, and any argument that is no t repo rted as an argument o ver mo ney o r pro perty, o r intimate partner vio lence. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 37 • Robberies and the drug trade were the most common crimes precipitating homicides among males. Females were more likely to have become victims after an arson, sexual assault, or crimes such as witness intimidation. Figure 20. Lifetime trend of selected homicide circumstances, 2003-2005 40% Percent of homicides 30% 20% 10% 0% 14 and under 15-34 35-54 55 and older Intimate partner violence-related Drug involvement Gang activities Precipitated by another crime Drive-by shooting Age-specific percentage calculated among homicides with known circumstances. Data Source: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007. Figure 21. Crimes precipitating homicides, 2003-2005 75% Percent homicides with precipitating crime 50% 25% 0% Drug trade Robbery Arson Rape, sexual assault Assault, homicide Other crimes* Homicide Males Females *Other crimes include witness intimidation/elimination, motor vehicle theft, hate crimes, and other specified felony crimes. Sex-specific percentage calculated among homicides with a precipitating crime reported. Data Sources: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007. 38 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention • Males were far more likely to be killed by a firearm than were females, while females are far more likely to be suffociated. Figure 22. Major weapons/mechanisms used in New Jersey homicides, 2003-2005 Males Firearm 16% 7% 10% 67% 1% 1% 1% 2% 1% Sharp instrument 4% Personal weapons Blunt instrum ent Suffocation* Poisoning Motor vehicle Other known weapons Unknown Females Firearm 17% 22% 24% Sharp instrument 9% Suffocation* Personal weapons Blunt instrument Poisoning Motor vehicle Other known weapons† Unknown 6% 1% 2% 37% 4% 2% Homicide *Suffocation includes hanging, strangling, and suffocation. †Other known weapons/mechanisms include fire and burns, drowning, fall, shaken baby, other transport, and intentional neglect. Percents are based on 984 NJ resident male homicides and 246 NJ resident female homicides. Data Source: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007. Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 39 • More than two thirds of female homicide victims were killed in their homes, as compared with a little over one quarter of males. Nearly half of males were killed in the street. Forty-five percent of homicide victims died in the hospital or emergency room. Table 24. Location of homicide injuries by manner, 2003-2005 Males N All deaths House, apartment Street Highway Motor vehicle Bar or nightclub Store or other business, factory, office Parking lot, parking garage Abandoned house or building School (Elementary, High, Unspec.) Public transportation Church Hospital Supervised residential facility Jail, prison Park, playground Natural area (field, river, beach) Hotel/motel Other known locations of injury Unknown location 984 263 448 19 36 30 33 31 4 1 3 1 11 2 7 17 8 4 37 29 % 100 26.7 45.5 1.9 3.7 3.0 3.4 3.2 0.4 0.1 0.3 0.1 1.1 0.2 0.7 1.7 0.8 0.4 3.8 2.9 N Females % 246 100 168 68.3 28 11.4 2 0.8 5 2.0 3 1.2 6 2.4 5 2.0 2 0.8 2 0.8 1 0.4 3 1.2 1 0.4 2 0.8 7 2.8 11 4.5 N and percent are based o n lo catio n o f injury fo r New Jersey resident ho micides. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007; NCHS B ridged Race Estimates fo r po pulatio n. 1 Table 25. Homicide victim place of death, 2003-2005 2003-2005 N % 1,230 100.0 204 16.6 346 28.1 78 6.3 1 0.1 3 0.2 210 17.1 379 30.8 9 0.7 Homicide Total Hospital inpatient Hospital Emergency Department Dead on arrival Hospital facility Nursing home House or home Other Unknown N and percent are based o n place o f death fo r New Jersey resident ho micides. Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007 1 40 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Figure 23. Homicide occurrences in New Jersey, 2003-2005 Legend Cities Ò Homicide occurrences New York Ò Ò Natural Areas Stream/River Swamp/Marsh Forest, Park, or Refuge Major Lakes (State) Sussex Ò PassaicÒ Ò Landmarks Military Installation New Jersey County Boundaries Bergen Urban Areas Population Under 200,000 200,001 - 500,000 500,001 - 150,000 150,001 - 500,000 Over 500,000 Ò Ò Pennsylvania Ò Paterson Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò ÒÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Essex Ò ÒÒÒÒ Ò Ò Warren Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Morris Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò East OrangeÒÒ Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Hudson Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒÒÒÒ ÒÒÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒÒÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒÒÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒÒÒ ÒÒÒÒÒNewark ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò New York City Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒÒÒÒ Ò ÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒÒÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒÒÒ Metro Area ÒÒÒÒÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒÒÒ ÒÒÒÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒÒÒÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒÒ ÒÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Jersey City Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Union Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Elizabeth Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Somerville Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Hunterdon ÒÒ Somerset Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò New Brunswick Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Middlesex Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Mercer Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Asbury Park Monmouth ÒÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒÒÒ Ò ÒÒÒÒ Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒÒ Ò Ò Trenton Levittown Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Philadelphia Metro Area Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ ÒÒÒÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒCamden Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Burlington Ò Ò Lindenwold Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ocean Ò Camden Ò Ò Ò Salem Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Cumberland Ò Ò Millville ÒÒ ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò Delaware Cape May Pleasantville Ò Ò Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Atlantic Ò Ò ÒÒ Ò ÒÒ Ò Ò Ò City AT LA NT IC Bridgeton Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Vineland Ò Ò Atlantic Ò Ò Ò Ò OC EA N Gloucester ÒÒ Homicide Maryland Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò Ò 0 5 10 Miles 20 − 41 Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 • Almost 70% of homicides occurring in New Jersey between 2003 to 2005 took place in just 15 municipalities. In total, 172 New Jersey municipalities had at least one homicide occur during this three-year period. Table 26. Homicide in New Jersey municipalities, 2003-2005 2003 Municipality (County) Newark (Essex) Camden (Camden) Jersey City (Hudson) Irvington (Essex) Trenton (Mercer) Paterson (Passaic) East Orange (Essex) Elizabeth (Union) Plainfield (Union) Atlantic City (Atlantic) New Brunswick (Middlesex) Somerville (Somerset) Bridgeton (Cumberland) Passaic (Passaic) Union City (Hudson) All other municipalities Total N 80 42 22 26 13 23 17 16 5 4 8 13 6 2 3 146 426 % 18.8 9.9 5.2 6.1 3.1 5.4 4.0 3.8 1.2 0.9 1.9 3.1 1.4 0.5 0.7 34.3 100.0 N 93 51 21 24 23 11 15 11 9 4 4 1 3 5 4 120 399 2004 % 23.3 12.8 5.3 6.0 5.8 2.8 3.8 2.8 2.3 1.0 1.0 0.3 0.8 1.3 1.0 30.1 100.0 N 96 33 36 23 27 15 13 17 15 9 3 1 5 4 3 118 418 2005 % 23.0 7.9 8.6 5.5 6.5 3.6 3.1 4.1 3.6 2.2 0.7 0.2 1.2 1.0 0.7 28.2 100.0 2003-2005 N % 269 21.6 126 10.1 79 6.4 73 5.9 63 5.1 49 3.9 45 3.6 44 3.5 29 2.3 17 1.4 15 1.2 15 1.2 14 1.1 11 0.9 11 0.9 383 30.8 1,243 100.0 Data so urce: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Homicide 42 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Measuring Gang and ‘Gang-like’ Homicides The recent increase in homicides in New Jersey has been especially characterized by homicides committed with firearms in urban areas. The majority of victims are young black males. At the same time there has been an increase in gang activity in the state, as described in the Governor’s recently released crime plan and reflected in the recently released 2007 New Jersey 9-10 State Police Gang Survey. While gang activity and criminal violence are clearly related, it is often difficult to associate gang activity with any particular homicide. The “gang and ‘gang-like’” homicide category was created by NJVDRS to provide an alternative way of estimating the number of homicides that are either known to involve gangs or share important characteristics with homicides that were known to involve gangs, even if no circumstances were reported about these homicides. For every homicide which meets the criteria for a “gang” homicide as defined by NVDRS*, there are several others which are similar in terms of the weapon, the location, and the characteristics of suspects and victims, but which are classified as either “drive-by”, “drug-related”, or “innocent bystander”. Additionally, there are homicides for which no circumstances are available but which are considered “gang-like” because the victim, location, and/or weapon characteristics are similar to homicides that have been classified as gang-related by law enforcement. These categories comprise the broader NJVDRS category of “gang and ‘gang-like’” homicides. The rationale for developing this measure is that it appears that the growing prominence of gangs has been accompanied by a new style of violent behavior. This estimate seeks to measure the extent of this violent behavior, even if many incidents cannot be directly related to anything specific about gangs. In other words, this definition seeks to measure the general rather than the specific effect of gangs, or to estimate the overall impact of “gang-style” violence on homicide. Most of these homicides occurred in urban areas and involved firearms. 258 homicides met this expanded definition in 2005, as compared with 201 in 2004 and 168 in 2003. Overall, 627 homicides between 2003 to 2005 met the NJVDRS broad “gang and ‘gang-like’” definition. 495 (79%) of those homicides occurred in just eight of New Jersey’s major urban areas. The following maps of these urban areas include a map of all homicides and a map of homicides meeting the NJVDRS broad “gang and ‘gang-like’” definition. _______________________________ *A homicide is considered gang-related if the medical examiner or law enforcement indicates in their report that the homicide resulted, or is suspected to have resulted, from gang rivalry or gang activity.11 Gang and ‘Gang-like’ Homicides Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 43 Figure 24. Homicide in Atlantic City and Pleasantville, 2003-2005 Atlantic City and Atlantic City International Deli lah Pleasantville, NJ Camden, NJ 563 U V Homicides by occurrence Weapon used 322 . t u c Firearm ' c Sharp Instrument 40 u t Y c Personal Weapons " c All Other Re ega Jers ey n Tilto Mill Pitney Edwin B Forsythe National W Edwin B Forsythe National e or Sh ! ch anch IInge r sollls Bra n nge r so s Br Fi re C Ab hu se rc con h C r e ek r e ek 57 1 ! 322 Califo rn ia Sho re Egg Harbor Township ! Old r bo ar gH Eg Wa sh ing ton Pleasantville City Highways Limited Access Highway Major Road Ba rga int ow n Fr an kli n 40 u t Church Pa rk ! ! ! ! Ma in n Tilto U V Galloway Township Absecon City Absecon St Wildlife Mngt Area Absecon St Wildlife Mngt Area De lila h ! !! Brigantine City y Dought 30 u t Pa tc on gC reek reek Local Road Rivers Parks ! M ill Ti lto n ! Atlantic City Briga ntine 87 U V w Ne J ey ers Northfield City Tilton Egg Harbor Township u t 322 ! Municipalities Zio n ! ! ! nd ryla Ma ! ee St ntr a Oak County Boundary Ce l Cedar Br idge ! nd tE es W Con ne ct i c ut New Y or k Atlantic City Muni/BaderArc Field 40 u t ch Win or ntn Ve Pen nsylva nia lm Bla ck ma n New J er s ey Mar yl a nd Sh or e v an ille 9 u t ton ing ell W ter es ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! tic cif Pa ic 446 U V e se es nn Te ing rK the Lu rtin Ma Dr rc me am Gr y ! te ga ar M Del a war e _ [ Ventnor City Egg Harbor Township Linwood City ! tic lan At st We Bethel Somers Point City Longport Borough Figure 25. Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Atlantic City and Pleasantville, 2003-2005 Atlantic City International Atlantic City and Deli lah Camden, NJ Pleasantville, NJ 563 U V Mill Pitney Gang or gang-like homicides Weapon used Gang and ‘Gang-like’ Homicides 322 . t u c Firearm ' c Sharp Instrument Re eg a 322 ! De li Wa s Califo rnia Sho re Fi re lah " c All Other Highways Highway Major Road Local Road Rivers Parks Egg Harbor Township hin g to n Pleasantville City Limited Access Fra nk lin 40 u t Church Pa rk ! ! ! ! Ma in 40 u Y c Personal Weapons t Jer sey Ba rga int ow n Pa tc on g C reek ree Brigan tine Oak Pen ns y lv a ni a Bla ck ma n lm ee St Mar yl a nd New J er s ey Sh or e Bethel Somers Point City Longport Borough n ea Oc er sp Ja ! le vil an t igh He Margate City t igh Kn Municipalities Ce ntr a County Boundary l Dela war e s 0 0.25 0.5 1 Miles − n Tilto Edwin B Forsythe National W Edwin B Forsythe National e or Sh ! ch anch IInge r sollls Bra n nge r so s Br C Ab hu se c rc on h C r e ek r e e k 57 1 Con ne ctic ut New Y or k 9 u t n Tilto Old r bo ar gH Eg U V Galloway Township Absecon City Absecon St Wildlife Mngt Area Absecon St Wildlife Mngt Area ! !! y Dought Brigantine City 30 u t ! M ill Ti lto n ! Atlantic City Egg Harbor Township 87 U V w Ne rse Je y Northfield City Tilton 322 u t rtin Ma Dr ! ! rc me am Gr y nd ryla Ma Zion e sse ne Ten ing rK the Lu Cedar Br idge ! 446 U V nd tE es W Atlantic City Muni/BaderArc Field 40 u t r ste che cific Win Pa tic ton ing ell W n Ve ! ! ! ! ! te ga ar M r tn o _ [ Linwood City Egg Harbor Township er sp Ja Ventnor City At tic lan n ea Oc ts igh He st We Margate City t igh Kn 0 0.25 0.5 1 Miles − 44 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Figure 26. Homicide in Camden, 2003-2005 Camden, NJ Homicides by occurrence Weapon used P en ns yl van i a Ne w Y o rk Co nne ct ic u t . c Firearm ' c Sharp Instrument V U 611 R i r ve ! ! ! ! !! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! !! !!!! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! !! 30 ! u ! t !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! § ! !! ¦ ¨ ! !! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! !! V U ! ! ! ! Camden 676 168 Mar yl and New J er s ey _ [ Pennsauken De lawa r e Y Personal Weapons cU V UV V U "V All cU Other V U 3 3 3 611 3 § ¦ ¨ 676 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 130 u t Highways Limited Access Highway Major Road Local Road Rivers Parks Municipalities County Boundary 611 V U § ¦ ¨ 95 Delaware !! Merchantville Pennsauken 38 V U Che Pennsylvania 70 V U ! 291 V U Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 130 u t Collingswood § ¦ ¨ 76 ! ! Woodlynne Boro ! 130 u t Haddon Twp Haddon Twp 0 0.25 0.5 1 Miles − Gloucester City e w to n ! ! ! !! ! ! ! C r ee k 30 u t e e k Crreek nC on tto w w N N k k Borough ee rree nC nC wtto wo Audubon Ne Ne Park Oaklyn Figure 27. Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Camden, 2003-2005 Camden, NJ Gang or gang-like homicides Weapon used P en ns y l va n i a N e w Y o r kC o n n e c t i c u t Ne w J er s e y N N ! . c Firearm ' c Sharp Instrument V U 611 _ [ R i r ve ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 30 u t Ma ry l a nd Pennsauken De la war e Gang and ‘Gang-like’ Homicides Y Personal Weapons cU V UV V "V U All cU Other V U 3 3 3 611 3 § ¦ ¨ 676 ! ! ! ! !!!! ! ! ! 130 u t ! Camden Highways Limited Access Highway Major Road Local Road Rivers Parks § ¦ ¨ 95 Delaware ! !! Merchantville Pennsauken 38 V U Che Pennsylvania Municipalities 611 V U County Boundary ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! § ¦ ¨ ! !! ! !! ! ! ! !! !! V U ! ! ! ! 676 168 Woodlynne Boro 70 V U 291 V U Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 130 u t Collingswood § ¦ ¨ 76 ! ! 130 u t Haddon Twp 0 0.25 0.5 1 Miles − Gloucester City e w to n ! C r ee k ! !! ! k Borough ee k ee Crr nC on wtto ew Audubon Ne N Park Oaklyn Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 e Haddon Twp 30 u t N N e Crreek nC on tto w w N N 45 Figure 28. Homicide in Elizabeth, 2003-2005 Fre ling huy sen ha ll Lib er ty 22 u t Va ux 22 u ! t Be rtra m Sa lem Hillside Township 82 U V ! !! ! ! ! ! !! ! Ma dis on Newark City Co rbin ESSEX C ol on ia l Mc Cle llan Fl e et Union Township Ne wa rk gh hi Le No rth Sp rin g E 439 U! V ! ! Ga ll ie ag op M ing Hil l eld Westfi Newark Intl No rth 28 U V Grand 27 U V Gra nd 95 E Roselle Park Borough 1st 3rd ay hw Ra Pearl Divisio n Jersey ! Elizabeth City Was hing ton Broad UNION Mc les ter ! Roselle Borough 9th Ed gar in Sa es rg eo tG El m or a ! ! Hu ss a 27 U V ! ! !! ! ! ! § ¦ ¨ ! ! !1 u t ! ! ! ! !! !! ! ! !! ! ! ! !! ! ! 9 ! ! u t ! ! ! th be iza El 3rd rt Po ris or M ton Chil on Thomps 5th Weapon used Summer At tic lan le Co r tle Bu El iz t 1s ab et h . c Firearm ' c Sharp Instrument 2nd Balt im ore ab et h Bayway k Br un sw ic k Pa r Y c Personal Weapons " c All Other South El iz Richmond Limited Access Highway Local Road Morn ingsta r Linden City W oo d W es te rn 1 u t § ¦ ¨ 278 New York Pen nsylvania _ [ Major Roadni In Tranto r s Bla nck e 0 ee k 0.25 0.5 1 Miles − 22 u t ee Crre e M o rrses C M o ses k M ors Rivers New Jersey Maryl a nd Dela war e Parks t res Fo Municipalities County Boundary Figure 29. Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Elizabeth, 2003-2005 Fre ling huy sen xh all Lib er ty 22 u t Va u Be rtra m Sa lem Hillside Township 82 U V ! ! ! ! ! !! Ma dis on Newark City Co rbin ESSEX Gang and ‘Gang-like’ Homicides C ol on ia l Mc Cle llan Fl e et Union Township Ne wa rk gh hi Le No rth Sp rin g 439 U! V E ! Ga gie llo Ma pin g Hil l eld Westfi Newark Intl No rth 28 U V Grand ton Chil 27 U V Roselle Park Borough 1st Jersey Divisio n 3rd Pearl Broad ! ! t 1 u ! Gra nd § ¦ ¨ 95 Elizabeth City E ay hw Ra Was hing ton !! iz El 3rd ! ! ! r tle Bu rt Po UNION Mc les te ! !! ! ! r Roselle Borough 9th Ed gar in Sa es rg eo tG El m Elizabeth, NJ NJ Camden, NJ Elizabeth, City Elizabeth, Bayonne Gang or gang-like homicides Weapon used or a 5th Sum mer 5th ! Hu ss a 27 U V 9 u t ! ! Bayway At le Co tic lan El iz t 1s ab et h ! ! . c Firearm ' c Sharp Instrument Y c Personal Weapons " c All Other Richmond 2nd Balt im ore El iz a be t h Br un sw ic k Pa rk Limited Access Highway Local Road Morni ngstar Linden City W oo d W es te 1 u t ee Crre e M o rrses C M o ses k § ¦ ¨ 278 New York rn Pennsylvania _ [ Major Road Rivers Parks Innis New J e rs ey Mar yla nd Delaware Bla nck e 0 ee k 0.25 0.5 1 Miles − t res Fo Municipalities County Boundary 46 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Tranto r M or s Po rt R ich mo nd New Y or k Highways South A Po rt R ich mo nd ! New Y ork Highways A r ndle Cha Camden, NJ Elizabeth, NJ Elizabeth, NJ Bayonne City Homicides by occurrence 5th Crr C es es ri or M s on Thomps r ndle Cha h et ab Crr C es es Figure 30. Homicide in Jersey City, 2003-2005 ! ! ! Jersey City, ! ! Jersey ! Camden, NJ New Homicides by occurrence U V !! ! Weapon !! used . c Firearm ! ! ' Sharp Instrument! c ! Weapons Y ¦ ¨ c Personal! ! § Kea rny S Br umm er oa dw ay Sc hu yle r Lyndhurst Borough Secaucus Town 7 U V Pas saic 9th Be r ge n 17 Kearny Town Ke nn ed y East Newark Borough e Ce ntr al Joh nF Pa lisa de 280 Bro ad Harrison Town Tonn elle Pennsylvania Fish se Hou Hudso n 7 U V 14 th Jacobu s Do rem us Jo hn F St oc kto n P Ce ntr e So uth De lan cey ! 440 Be lm Ch urc Hudson h ! Highways !! ! ! Limited Access ! !! Highway ! Major Road Mu lbe rry Ada ms Kin ne y Cen tral ! ! Be rg en 1 u t9 u t We st S ide Ho bo ke n Mark e t ! 9 u t Du n ca n Green wich " c !! All Other Newark Obser ver La gu ard ia La fay Bow ett ery e Alle 4th Unio n n 8th Rivers Parks Newark City § ¦ Municipalities ¨ 95 Be rge n Phil lip 1 u t ! Wil son ! Jersey City ll 440 U V W oo dl Lib ert y Park Park Henry aw County Boundary Con ne ct ic ut New Y or k W eg nW m oo an dl aw n l ar Pe er at W 907 U V s Ro 63 rd 59 th Be rge n e Pennsylvania Newark Intl Co rbin _ [ ! B ! !! ar G 16 9 an ce O M or ris Pe si n § ¦ ¨ 478 New Jersey Mar yla nd Fl ee t § ¦ ¨ 78 Old ld fie § ¦ ¨ § ¦ ¨ § ¦ ¨ 278 278 278 Clinton Local Road !! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! !! !! ! ! ! ! !! !! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! !! !! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! Co m Cle munip nd aw en Vi ny rg inia on t Br am ha Ke nn ed y Lin coln om e ry Varick C an al ton Ivy Gra nd Tillary ! ! 3rd Delaware Mc les ter Bay Elizabeth City E A C Br oa dw ay E 440 U V ! 21 st 4th Bayonne City ! !! ! − 0 0.5 1 2 Miles 278 New York § ¦ ¨ 9th § ¦ ¨ 278 Figure 31. Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Jersey City, 2003-2005 ! Jersey City, ! ! ! Jersey Camden, NJ New U V Gang or gang-like homicides ! Weapon used ! . c Firearm ! Kea rny S Br umme oa r dw ay F ! ! Lyndhurst Borough Secaucus Town 7 U V North Bergen Township 10 Se th ca uc us Ne lso n Su mm it 21 st 501 U V Sc hu yle r Pas saic 9th Be rg Weehawken Township Union City en 17 41 st 40 th 36 th 10 th 11 th § ¦ ¨ 495 57 th Da vis 42 nd 7th C B ! !! ! ! Mo ntg § ¦ ¨ 78 1 Ho us A 1s t 3rd 2n d New York 13 th Pa rk Bridg 7 Jeffers on on Harris New ark ! ! ! ! !! ! !! !! ! ! !!! !! ! ! !! ! ! !! ! ! ! !! ! North Bergen Township 10 Se th ca uc us 21 st 501 U V Weehawken Township Union City Da vis Ne lso n Su mm it 36 40 th th 8th 7th Of Th eA Pe me nn ric as 5th Bo we rs 23 rd Hoboken City Ma dis on 30 th 34 th 7th 41 st 11t h 10 th § ¦ ¨ 495 57 th unty Co 8th 7th Of Th eA Pe me nn ric as 5th Jacobu s We st S ide Ho bo ke n Mark e Cen tral t Mu lbe rry ! ! Dor em us P Be rg en Ke nn ed y Ada ms St oc kto n Ce ntr e Major De lan Road cey Jo hn F Alle n outh ! 440 Wil Rivers Parks Newark City Be rge n Phil lip 1 u t § ¦ ¨ 95 ! son ! Jersey City Municipalities County Boundary Con ne ct ic ut New Y or k 440 U V W oo dl Park Lib ert y at W Park Henry aw se Ro Newark Intl Pen ns y lvania _ [ et Co rbin New J e rs ey Dela war e Mc les ter B Maryland Fl e § ¦ ¨ Old 63 rd 59 th Be rge n ! ! an ce O ! W eg nW m oo an dl aw n !! ! !! l ar Pe er 907 U V M or ris Pe si n § ¦ ¨ 478 fi ar G d el § ¦ ¨ § ¦ ¨ § ¦ ¨ 278 278 278 Clinton Local Road !! !! ! ! ! ! !! !! ! Br am ha ll Be lm on t Ch urc Hudson h Highway S Co m Cle munip nd aw en Vi ny rg inia Bow ery Highways ! Limited Access !! Kin ne y oln 1s t C an al Ho usto Gra Ivy nd Tillary 16 9 78 ! Elizabeth City C Br oa dw ay E 4th Bayonne City 440 U V 3rd Bay E A ! 21 st − 0 0.5 1 − 278 New York § ¦ ¨ 9th § ¦ ¨ 278 F 2 Miles Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 B Lin c om ery Varick ! 1 A Du nc a n Mo ntg § ¦ ¨ 78 La gu ard ia La fay ett e 1 u t9 u t u t 9 ! ! Green wich Newark Obser ver 4th Unio n ' c Sharp Instrument ¦ ¨ ! § Y c Personal Weapons " ! c All Other on Harris Bridge rk Pa Kearny Town Ke nn ed y East Newark Borough Ce ntr al Joh nF Pa lisa de Bro ad Harrison Town Tonn elle Pennsylvania Fish 8th 14 th 2n d New York 13 th 3rd 280 s Hou e Hudso n 7 U V ! 14 th Pa rk 7 Jeffe rson New ark Bo we rs 23 rd Hoboken City Ma dis on ld fie om Blo 42 nd le vil lle Be rk Pa n so ter Pa ich enw Gre 14 th on st hn Jo Pike o do rth ca M nfo Da ate St Cadman ton mil Ha unty Co d iel mf oo Bl Gang and ‘Gang-like’ Homicides 30 th 34 th le vil lle Be n so ter Pa ich enw Gre n on st hn Jo Pike oo ad rth Mc nfo Da ate St Cadman ton mil Ha 47 Figure 32. Homicide in Newark, Irvington and East Orange, 2003-2005 R a hw ay R iv e er r Pro sp ec t C ol on ia ! ! !U ! V ! . !! U V c Firearm U ! V ! ! ! ! ! ! !! U V U ! ! ! V ! ' Sharp Instrument ! ! ! !! U c ! V ! !! !! !! ! ! ! !! ! Y c Personal Weapons !!!! ! ! !! ! !! !! ! ! !!! ! ! § !! ! ! ! ! ¨ ! ! ! ¦ ! " !! ! c All Other ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! U Highways ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! V! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Limited Access ! ! !! ! !! !! ! !! ! !! Highway !! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!!!! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Major Road ! ! ! !! !! ! ! t U 1 V u Local Road !!!!!! !!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! !! Rivers ! !! ! ! ! !!! !! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! !! !! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! Parks ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! !! ! !! !!!! !! ! !! ! ! !! !! ! ! ! ! Municipalities ! ! U V ! ! !! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! County Boundary ! ! ! ! ! !! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! 1 ! ! u t ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! § § ¦ ¦ ¨ ¨ _ [ ! ! U V E ! ! ! ! 22 u t R iv ! ! ! U V Newark Intl ! ! !! 22 u t ! ! Es sex Hig h Ce nte r Cherr y Ple as an tV all ey West Orange Township 508 Roll inso n No rth f Dr Old Sho rt H ills Va lle y Sco tlan d Be rke ley Pas saic Wy om ing R ah wa y R iiver v Ce ntr e Cen tral Cli fto n South Orange Mun n Tre mo nt 6th Or an g 280 e 1s t Orato n Da vis Lu East Orange City th er Wil liam Ki 658 ng Jr Gre go ry 12th Ros evil le 17 Sc hu yle r ield Orange City M ar tin 506 Kea rny e Am pere n Sum me r Ceda r Qu imb y ! ! ing da l Abin gto 6th Pa rk Sp r 21 Belleville ! G len wo od Hell er Br oa dw ay Wh ite Wa lnu t Ar lin gto n k k oo o Homicideso by Brr B ea ea B B Weapon used Gro ve Pa rk occurrence 577 U V ! Dod d ! ! ! ! ! ld fie om Blo r Fran klin Bloomfield Township 7 U V 21 Passaic 10 V Newark, Irvington, & U East Orange, Livingston Township Camden, NJ New Jersey ! Ple asa nt Ma in ! Ne wa r Belleville Township Mil l Rutge rs k Rid ge ! ! ! Ralp h Montclair Township Glen Ridge Boro Township n to ng hi as W Riv er Mo unt Mil l n kli an Fr North Arlington Borough Lyndhurst Borough 7 Ha rri so n Be rg en Kearny Town le vil lle Be East Newark Borough Bridg e South Orange Village Township ton ing Irv on Harris New ark San ford Stuy ves ant Va lle y Univ ers ity 510 Orange 12th Norf olk 12th rk Pa Elle ry Bro ad Mu lbe rry Berg en Ora nge W yo m ing Ri dg ew oo d Maplewood Township Elm Tusca n Parker Ha rris on woo d Ma dis on 18th Kinn ey Mark e t 510 10th Osbo rne Bo yd en Millb urn Main Co it G rov e Hills ide Eliz abe th N ew ar Un ion H al l Le slie Fa by an 40 th Wa lke r Conne cti cut New York St an ley M ill Pa in Ha wth orn e Poin ier Wil son e Ly on Bu rn et s Stu yv es an t Co m m er ce Springfield Township Pe n ns y l va nM ia 577 orr is Li be rty Winslow Un ion W in an s 78 95 Do rem us Va ux ield Springf t 124 et rn Bu Ch an ce llo r Irvington Township Ny e ton Clin Newark City k P So uth Ada ms Avon Spru c e Ferr y 9 u t Cen tral 18th Millburn Township Alle n 16th Jones ld ngfie Spri Jacobu s Ma no r South Mountain Reservation South Mountain Reservation Wa lto n 14th Harrison Town Pennsylvania y lle Va Ra ym on d Raymon d 9 u t Linc oln tor As De lan cey ker Mee Jersey City 440 U V 44 0 nd Oakla Maryland Lib er ty New Jersey Fre ling huy sen Va ux ha ll Hi lls id e Ma ple Haynes h h ett be ab za liliz Delaware Co rbin Springfield Township Union Township 82 Hillside Township Sa l lem Mc Cle llan 440 U V 63 rd 59 th C err e Broad Hill Tuck er Kenilworth Borough rth Kenilwo 21st Mc les ter 439 U V Mag ie 27 U V Cranford Township Roselle Park Borough ! ! !! ! ! ! Elizabeth City E ! No rth 0 0.5 1 − E 2 Miles − U V 440 ! Figure 33. Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Newark, Irvington and East Orange, 2003-2005 R a hw ay R iv e r Pro sp ec t Hig h Ple as an tV all ey Gl en wo od G ro Am pere ve West Orange Township 508 U V Es sex Ce nte r Gang and ‘Gang-like’ Homicides Va lle yV all ey Gre go ry Old Sho rt H ills Ros evil le Ha rri so n 12th 17 hw ay R iiver v Cen tral Cli fto n Y c Personal Weapons " c All Other South Orange Sco tlan d Be rke ley Pas saic Be rg en Orato n Wy om ing 6th Da vis on t Mun n Tre m Or an g 280 e Kearny Town 1s t East Newark Borough Bridge rk Pa Sc hu yle r Cherr y . c Firearm ' c Sharp Instrument Ceda r Roll inso n Kea rny 506 Sum me r No rth f Qu imb y 6th Pa rk 21 Belleville B B Weapon used e e ! Hell er Br oa dw ay Wh ite Ar lin gto n Walnut Pa rk a r Gang or k k oo oo gang-like B Brr 577 V homicidesU ield Bro ad Mu lbe rry Ora nge Local Road Ri dg ew oo d Berg en Ha rris on Rivers Parks Millb W yo m ing Maplewood Township Elm Tusc an Parker wo od Ma dis on 18th Kinn ey Mark e t 510 10th Osbo rne Bo yd en Hills ide Eliz abe th Le slie Fa by an Un ion Co it Con necticut New York al l N ew ar 40 th ux County Boundary H Wa lke r St an le Bu rn et Stu yv es an t Co m m er ce P e n n s y l v Township Springfield a n i a Mo rris _ [ Winslow Va ux ha ll y M ill Pa in e Ly on s Ha w th or n e Pe ddie Poin ier y Wil son ion Un 78 W in an s 95 Do rem us k P Va Gr ov e urn Municipalities 124 U V ield Springf t et rn Bu Ch an ce llo r Irvington Township Ny e ton Clin Newark City Ada ms Avon Spru ce y Ferr So uth De lan ce ! ! Jersey City New Jersey Li be rty Lib er ty Mary land C ol on ia l u t 22 West ve Riive rr e Bra beth R nc h E lliizabe th h E za ter Self Mas Chestnut m Sale Mc Cle ll Ma dis on Spring Fl ee t Mc les ter Kenilworth Borough Cranford Township 27 U V ! ! ! E 0 0.5 1 2 Miles 48 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention A Br oa C dw ay E gh hi Le Ne wa rk 439 U! V No rth Elizabeth City − Bayonne City B an Co rbin De a ware Springfieldl Township Newark Intl 44 0 Union Township 82 U V h R iv Hillside Township ! ! !! ! Fre ling huy sen ! Hil lsi de Ma ple Haynes 22 u t Broad Cen tral 18th Millburn Township Elle r Major Road Alle n y 16th Jones ld ngfie Spri Raymond ! t 1 u Jacobu s Ma no r South Mountain Reservation South Mountain Reservation Wa lto n Highway Va lle y Norf olk Limited Access R San ford Stuy ves ant Univ ers ity a a 510 Orange 12th Highways South Orange Village Township ton ing Irv ! ! U V ! ! ! ! U V ! !! ! ! !! U V ! ! ! V! !! ! U ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! § ! ! ! ¦ ! ¨ ! !! ! !! ! ! ! U ! ! ! !! ! ! ! !! !V! ! ! !! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! !! ! ! !! !! ! ! ! !! ! ! !!! ! !! ! !! ! ! ! ! U ! ! V !!! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! !! !! ! !! ! ! ! ! !! !! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! !! !!! ! ! ! !!!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! 1 ! ! !!! ! ! §t § ! ¦ ¦ ¨u ¨ ! ! E ! Orange City Dr M ar tin gd ale Lu East Orange City th er Wil liam Ki 658 ng Jr Sp rin ! Dod d Fran klin Bloomfield Township 7 U V 21 Passaic Newark, Irvington, & 10 U V East Orange, Livingston Township New Jersey Camden, NJ Ralp h Ple asa nt Ma in Ne wa r Belleville Township k Mil l Rutge rs North Arlington Borough Rid ge Montclair Township Glen Ridge Boro Township t ng hi as W Riv er Mo unt Mil l 7 U V A on Harris Br oa dw ay E Springfield Township Galloping an hig Mic gh hi Le Ne wa rk ter Self Mas Chestnut Spring Ma dis on Fl ee t ! Bayonne City B rt h No ! ! ! d Dow kl i an Fr on n le vil lle Be ld fie om Blo e os ntr Mo New ark 12th 14th Harrison Town y lle Va Ra ym on d 9 u t 9 u t Linc oln Main tor As ker Mee nd Oakla ett be ab iza lilz d 63r err e an hig Mic Figure 34. Homicide in Paterson, 2003-2005 Lincol n Camden, Paterson, NJ Weapon used North Haledon Borough urg mb Ha Church Homicides by occurrence Old ha m Y c Personal Weapons " c All Other Highways Limited Access Highway Major Road Local Road B tt B n nkk Parks pu pu k ok Rivers oo rro Wayne Township Ri ve r . c Firearm ' c Sharp Instrument Valley 504 U V Pom pton Hawthorne Borough raw Waga 504 Goffle U V 504 U1 Vs t Fair n Law Haledon Borough Belmont Prospect Park Borough ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Warren 18th Maple 504 U V a Plaz nn Brr B oo k Mo oll 43rd Paterson City aa c h N N Municipalities County Boundary Nag le Connecticut New Y ork 509 Ma rke t River Pennsylvan ia Totowa Borough To to wa _ [ Mcbride New Jer sey Maryl and ! Cald well § ¦ ¨ 80 Madis on an Gr d ! ! 22nd 33rd Delaware § ¦ ¨ 80 Broa d Vall ey 46 u t Rif le C am p Ha ze l Croo ks Un ion Pa ter La ck aw so n Rive an 0 rview Little Falls Township na 0.25 0.5 − 1 Miles − Clifton City 46 u t U V 21 Garfield City Figure 35. Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Paterson, 2003-2005 Linco ln River Camden, NJ Paterson, NJ Weapon used North Haledon Borough r tze Ra g ur mb Ha Church Gang or gang-like homicides Old ha m Y c Personal Weapons " c All Other Highways Limited Access Highway Major Road Local Road Rivers o Parkskk oo rro pu nk Wayne Township Ri ve r . c Firearm ' c Sharp Instrument Valley 504 U V Pom p ton Hawthorne Borough raw Waga 504 Goffle U V 504 U1 V st Maple 504 U V Haledon Borough Belmont Prospect Park Borough Fair n Law Plaza nn Brr B Mo ll yy A A Br oa 18th oo k 43rd Municipalities Boundary River B ttB Nag le Con ne ctic ut New York Pen ns ylv an ia To to wa _ [ Totowa Borough Riverview Mcbride New J er s ey Maryland Cald well § ¦ ¨ 80 Madis on h h acc aa County Na N G d ran 509 U V all rsh Ma ! Paterson City ! !! ! Ma r ke t ! 33rd Del a war e § ¦ ¨ 80 Broa d Vall ey 46 u t Ca mp Ha ze l Croo ks Un ion Pa ter La ck 0 aw so n Rif le Little Falls Township an 0.25 na 0.5 − 1 Miles − Clifton City 46 u t U V 21 Garfield City Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 River r tze Ra al ntr Ce Fair Lawn Borough ! pl m Te e Br o an Berd er Riv e i verr Riv cR iic sa Main sa P as P as ! ! sid Pre tia en 9th ! Mcle an rlo Mo t yy A A ! !! ! ! a w to To ad wa y ! ! ! l ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 11th 20 U V ! West Paterson Borough s es kn ea Pr Broadway Dr Martin Luthe r King Jr Ellison 4 Broadway 4 U V rd leva Bou rling Ste ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! U V ! !! ! ! all rsh Ma ne ay W land Vree Elmwood Park Borough ! ! ain M hall Mars d lan ee Vr ! Lakeview Marke t n lea Mc Broad al ntr Ce Gang and ‘Gang-like’ Homicides Fair Lawn Borough ! er Riv an Berd err Riiv e Rv ic ic sa Main sa P as P as ! ! a w to To pl m Te dw ay ! l tia en sid Pre Warren ! ! ! ! ! 9th ot Morl e ! ! ! 11th Mcle an ! Broadway Dr Martin Luthe r King Jr Ellison Broadway 20 U V 4 U V West Paterson Borough s es kn ea Pr rling Ste 4 rd leva Bou ne ay W land Vree ! ! hall Mars Elmwood Park Borough d lan ee Vr 22nd Mar ke t ain M Lakeview n lea Mc Broad 49 Figure 36. Homicide in Trenton, 2003-2005 Camden,NJ Trenton, NJ ai n Homicides by occurrence WeaponM used B uck C rreek uck C eek n to Af Ewing Township Pr in ce to n New Jersey Pa rk si de Lawrence Township Old en e ruc Sp ay Ca lho u Prin ceto n Highways Limited Access Highway Major Road Local Road Rivers Parks Municipalities County Boundary State Boundary St on y Pen ns ylvan ia Con ne cti cut New York Be lle n Y c Personal Weapons " c All Other Broc B k Cre ek le rd Ya Whittier M ar tin 32 U V Riv er St at e ! ! !! ! Lu th er Ki ng ! San h ! In gh am ican St uy ve sa nt Pennsylvania n Tre ton De lm or r ! !! ! ! !! ! 1 !! u ! t! 206 u t ! ! vu e ! ! ! ! ! Jr ew N rk Yo ! ! ! ! ! Nottingham As su np np nk 332 ii un un dR dR P on Pon y Perr Linco Passaic Trenton City State t ke ar M Wa rre n ! ! ! U V ! ! ! !! ! !! ! ! ! ln d oo nw ee Gr ! Warren 33 il Ham ton R un Pine Grove Br e idg Dye Ro !! ! Cass ! Ne w Ph ila de lp hi a _ [ New Jersey Maryland Woolston Dela ware 1 u t rrisvill Lower Mo e Hamilton Township Lincoln 1 u t Bris tol Stony Hi ll Ne wb old − Fa lls N ew Tyburn 0 0.25 0.5 1 Miles 13 u t Ty New burn Tyburn Figure 37. Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Trenton, 2003-2005 Camden, NJ Trenton, Paterson, NJ M ai n Gang or gang-like homicides Weapon used er w Lo rry Fe Ewing Township Pr in ce to n New Jersey Pa rk si de Lawrence Township Old en ruc Sp Gang and ‘Gang-like’ Homicides n to Af ay M ar ti Limited Access Highway Major Road Local Road Rivers Parks Municipalities State Boundary County Boundary Con ne ct ic ut New Y ork Prin ceto n Highways Be lle Ca lho un Y c Personal Weapons " c All Other Broc B k Cre ek Whittier 32 U V Riv er St at e ! !! Lu th er Ki ng San h ican ! Jr St uy ve sa nt In gh am ! vu e ! Pennsylvania n Tre ton Passaic Warren ! ! ! ! ! u 1 !! t ! 206 u t ! t ke ar M Wa rre n ! ! n ew N rk Yo Nottingham As su np np nk 332 ii ! ! ! ! ! ! Ham un un dR dR P on Pon y Perr Linco ln Trenton City State De lm or r ! ! ! U V ! ! ! 33 irk wk Ne d oo nw ee Gr ilton Pine Grove St on y Pennsyl vania Ru n e idg Br Dye Ro ! ! Cass Ne w Cli n to n de lp hi a _ [ New Jersey Mar yl and Woolston Dela ware 1 u t rrisvill Lower Mo e Hamilton Township Lincoln 1 u t Bris tol Stony Hi ll Ne wb old − Fa lls Tyburn 13 u t 50 N ew 0 0.25 0.5 1 Miles Ty New burn Tyburn Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Pa rk ld O n ol nc Li Ph ila Lib er ty Ce da r Hi ll 206 u t Lalor Cli nto n White head St at e . c Firearm V ' U c Sharp Instrument B uck C rreek uck C eek Pro spe ct ! Pa rkw 206 u t C re r ek De law are ! St ra wb er ry 1 ! Pa rk ld O n ol nc Li Lib er ty Ce da r Hi ll ! ! ! rsey New Je Cli n to n ! ! 206 u t Lalor Cli nto n White head St at e . c Firearm V ' U c Sharp Instrument ! Pa rkw 206 u t C re r ek De law are !! Pro spe ct St ra wb er ry 1 er Riv van Sulli y er w Lo rry Fe 1 ! ay rw No th ou nm Mo irk wk Ne rson Ande ion Divis r take Whit ck ck rs be am Ch ! ia an sylv nn Pe old wb Ne er Riv van Sulli e 1 ay rw No y le rd Ya th ou nm Mo rson Ande ion Divis r take Whit ck ck rs be am Ch rsey New Je ia an sylv nn Pe old wb Ne Figure 38. Homicide in Vineland, Millville and Bridgeton, 2003-2005 Alloway Woods town oe kah Tuc a lse De Mannington Township ille lchv We Upper Pittsgrove Township Pole Tavern Malaga Park Pilesgrove Vineland, Millville,ers Township ion & Camden, NJmiss lloowaayy Crreekk Bridgeton,CoNJ w C ee m Elmer Borough A ll A Homicides by occurrence Aldine Alloway Cohansey Riv Cohansey River er Main Weapon rused C y C e ek ley Shir ill lM al sh ar M ! ll Dutch Mi Whit ehall 40 u t Taylor Monroe Township Ja ck so n idge Fork Br A A . c Firearm n De De Ru n ' c Sharp Instrumenteepp Ru ll e outh Newfield Borough Pittsgrove Township Deerfi eld Weymouth Garden Maurice River 40 u t Weymouth m Wey Delsea e R un Upper Deerfield Township Ce nte rto n ! Oak East West n Y c Personal Weapons " c All Other s s Highways Lower Alloways Creek Township Quinton Township Pecks Corner Pecks Corner Cohansey F in le Run y Ru n y 540 D ee rfie ld 77 U V Mu dd yR un n to or M 47 U V at Whe Garde Wheat Oak Park n Buena Borough Main H o rr Ho Ru Ru S ar a h S ar a h Foster Foster R un Run err e Lop Lop n Ru n Ru n n Ru Ru Limited Access Highway Major Road Ch estn Riversu Lan M auriice u Riv er Spring is mis mm Lu m is Lu d sh rrsh Ma Ma 56 U V h nc h nc Brra Ba Alm ond Buena Vista Township Maple 55 U V Shiloh Borough Sh iloh Sh aw Branc h Sh aw B ranc rk Park Pa West Deerfield Township Laurel Pe ar l Stow Road LocalCreek Township t Ba rretttt Ru n rre Run Hopewell Township Sp rin gto wn Grandad Meadows Parks Fayette M ou nc e Cr ee k Municipalities Grandad Meadows County Boundary rds M ill Greenwich Township Pennsy l va nia Fairton Fairton Millville 10th Conne ct ic ut New Y ork ! Sheppa p ar Sh Millville City il arv le ! !! ! ! ! High ad Bro Me nan tic o Cr ee k ! ! ! ! ! ! n ! ! !n ! R ! Rooccaappss Ruu R Burlington Sherman Branch Branch Chatfield Chatfield Nabb Bridgeton City South M ill Cr ee k Hennis W hit ak er e nc Ha id Br ge Panther ! Li nc ol n ell ell nw rrnw Co Co kil rrkil Vineland City Tarviin Brranch Ta v n B anch r Grant Pa Pa ! s May ding Lan Union !! ! c !chh an rran nB nB East Park Landis Chestnut etts nn Be Mil Ce da tes Ka Cedarville Ramah ! 47 B ra n c h wn c h to ss He Back Neck New J e rs e y Mar yla n d Ramah d Ce _ [ Delaware Na rro w e ez re ab Se Lawrence Township 553 U Ma V i − 0 1 2 s s os os Ea Cr st e rrn C r e n ne ne P Pi i Bea ver La ne n Blews Ru n Blews Ru B ran ch k k ee ee Crr s C es rre Ay Ay Fairfield Township Bu c m Bu c k sh uttem Creek k sh u em Cre ks hu te Battle n Ackley 55 U V 47 U V Es Maurice River Township or an ll M ste rE no Ma tell Wea th erby 4 Miles err e Pi i P P oiintt Creek Po n Creek s s ge ge Pa Pa n un Ru R Downe Township Commercial Township Upper Township Dennis Township Highland Figure 39. Gang or ‘gang-like’ homicide in Vineland, Millville and Bridgeton, 2003-2005 Alloway Woods town Mannington Township ville lch We Upper Pittsgrove Township Pole Tavern Malaga Park Pilesgrove Vineland, Millville,ers Township n sio & Bridgeton,CoNJlloowaayy Crreekk m Camden, NJ mis w C ee Elmer Borough All A Cohansey Riv Cohansey River er A A . c Firearm Dee R ' c Sharp InstrumentDee pp Ruunn ll Blu eB ell Pittsgrove Township Deerfi eld Weymouth Garden 40 u t Weymouth m Wey Delsea e R un Oak East West 77 U V Upper Deerfield Township Ce nte rto n Maurice River Y c Personal Weapons " c All Other Highways Lower Alloways Creek Township Quinton Township Pecks Corner Pecks Corner Cohansey F in le R un y R un y 54 0 rf Dee ie ld Mu dd yR un n to or M 47 U V at Whe Garde Wheat Oak Park n Buena Borough Main Highway Major Road Local Road Ch Parksstn e Shiloh Borough Sh ilo h Sh aw Branc h Sh aw B ranc rk Park Pa West Laurel Pe ar l Stow RiversCreek Township ut Ba r retttt Ru n rre Run Hopewell Township Sherman Li nc ol n ell ell nw rrnw Co Co n n Ru Ru Deerfield Township Sp rin gto wn Municipalities Grandad Meadows County Boundary e at re G Ye Branch Branch Chatfield Chatfield Nabb Bridgeton City Fayette M ill Cr ee k Hennis W hit ak er M ou nc e Cr ee k Grandad Meadows Pen ns y lv a nia rds Mill Greenwich Township Fairton Fairton Millville 10th Sheppa p ar Sh ad Bro Me nan tic o Cr ee k Con ne ctic ut New York ! ! South ce an H ge id Br Panther Union East un un err R e R Lop Lop Lan M auriice aur R ive r Spring Limited Access H o rrs Ho s Ru Ru S ar a h S ar a h Foster Foster R un Run is mis mm Lu m is Lu d sh rrsh Ma Ma 56 U V n nch nch Brra Ba Alm ond Buena Vista Township Maple Landis 55 U V Park ! ch ch an an Brr B in killn Vineland City arrk Brranch a anch T rviin B T vn r Grant Pa Pa Chestnut n n Ru Ru ps ps Roc a Roc a May g ndin s La etts nn Be l Mil Ce da Millville City le rvil da Ce Bu ck sh tes Ka B ra n c h wn c h to ss He Mar yla nd _ [ s es rre Ay Ay k k ee ee Crr C e ez re ab Se Back Neck Cedarville New J er s ey Ramah Ramah Del a war e Fairfield Township Na rro w Lawrence Township 553 U Ma V i − 0 1 2 s s os os Ea C st e rrn Crr e n ne ne P Pi i Bea ver La ne n Blews Ru n Blews Ru B ran ch m Bu c k sh uttem Creek k sh u em C re ute Battle n Ackle y 55 U V 47 U V te Es Maurice River Township or an ll M ste or E an ll M Wea therb y 4 Miles P oiintt Creek Po n Creek err e Pii P s s ge ge Pa Pa n un Ru R Downe Township Commercial Township Upper Township Dennis Township Highland Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 Ne w Ca rli s lle R un e R un Je rs ey WeaponCr e e kMain used y C k ay a ow ow ee Alloway Township In d New Jersey Buck Alloway Gang or gang-like homicides Aldine le Shir y W illo w ill lM al sh ar M White hall 40 u t Taylor idge Fork Br Monroe Township Ja ck so n ill Dutch M ia Gr ov e 322 u t Franklin Township Ne w outh We ym Blu eB ell Ca rli s lle R u n e R un l Je rs ey oe ah ck Tu ay a ow ow eek ! Alloway Township In di a New Jersey Buck Wil low Gr ov 322 u t g rdin Ha Franklin Township n n n n Ru Ru ph ra leg Te ho ric Je n un Ru R dy dy ud ud M M reek eek co C r ttiico C nan nan Me Me s ad Ro wn to Ye te ea Gr 2nd ton Bridgeton Fair rr n Silver Ru Nixons Branch Nixons Branch ek eek Crre sC ells we ll Ho w Ho h ac Be ph ra leg Te m hute cks Bu oe kah Tuc a lse De g rdin Ha n n n n Ru Ru Gang and ‘Gang-like’ Homicides We ymo uth Newfield Borough outh ho ric Je oe ah ck Tu un un R R dy dy ud ud M M reek eek co C r tiico C nan t nan Me Me n ow st ad Ro Burlington 2nd High ton Bridgeton Fair rr 47 n Silver Ru Nixons Branch Nixons Branch ek eek Crre ll s C es we ll Ho w Ho h ac Be m hute cks Bu 51 Technical Notes PRESENTATION OF RESULTS For all tables and figures, the 2003, 2004 and 2005 data years will be presented separately whenever possible and collapsed only if low numbers require it for rate presentation. NJVDRS had the cooperation of 20 of the 21 county prosecutors during the time in which the 2003, 2004 and 2005 law enforcement data were being collected. Law enforcement data (i.e. police reports) on homicides in Atlantic County are unavailable for analysis and comparison, although all municipalities in that county contributed to the Supplemental Homicide Report (SHR), and Atlantic County’s municipal SHR data is included in these analyses. DEATH CERTIFICATES A major source document for this report is the death certificate. New Jersey law requires the prompt filing of a death certificate by the proper authority, such as hospital personnel, physicians, medical examiners, and funeral directors, in the event of a death occurring in the state. These certificates are submitted to the State Bureau of Vital Statistics and Registration (BVS), where they are recorded and filed permanently. Statistics on deaths of New Jersey residents which occurred in other states are obtained through participation in the national Vital Statistics Cooperative Program (VSCP). All of the causes of death from the death certificate included in this report are underlying causes, and were coded by the National Center for Health Statistics’ (NCHS) SuperMICAR and ACME software in accordance with the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), adapted for use in the United States. Additional causes of death listed on the certificates, including the immediate and intermediate causes, are not considered in the analysis. The inclusion of all listed causes of death (multiple causes of death) could lead to somewhat different results. MEDICAL EXAMINER The Report of the Investigation of the Medical Examiner (RIME) is submitted by all county and regional medical examiner offices to the central Office of the State Medical Examiner, part of the New Jersey Department of Law & Public Safety. The RIME is a summary of the scene investigation, cause of death, and toxicology results for unattended deaths either occurring in New Jersey or transferred to New Jersey by another jurisdiction. Most, but not all, in-state deaths included in this report have a medical examiner’s report, or a scene 52 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention investigation and notation that the family refused autopsy. The medical examiners in New Jersey follow the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) guidelines for conducting death scene investigations, but many also follow local practice in assigning manner of death and completing the RIME, with some counties submitting much more detail in the narrative than others. LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTS The contents of law enforcement reports for both homicides and suicides are as varied as the municipalities that conduct death scene investigations, although most reports have the standard demographic and incident information - the “who”, “what”, “when”, and “where” of a death. Most variation from report to report is the presence of the “why”, critical for completing NVDRS circumstance information. For 2003 and 2004 data, NJVDRS obtained data for homicides from Prosecutors’ offices, but beginning in 2005, information from the Violent Crime Analysis Program in the New Jersey State Police was used to supplement what was received from Prosecutors, and is what NJDVRS is planning to use for future incidents. This program manages the Violent Crime Analysis Program (ViCAP) for New Jersey. ViCAP data is nationally standardized, but not all municipalities have submitted data at this time. New Jersey is working toward more complete data submission from the municipalities. Law enforcement reports for suicides and undetermined intent deaths are mostly obtained by contacting each municipality and working with the local agencies. POPULATION Population estimates presented in this report and used to calculate various rates were derived from the “Bridged-race Vintage 2003 postcensal population estimates”, the “Bridged-race Vintage 2004 postcensal population estimates” and the “Bridged-race Vintage 2005 postcensal population estimates” files prepared by the National Center for Health Statistics in collaboration with the U.S. Bureau of the Census.12 These estimates result from bridging the 31 race categories used in the 2000 Census, as specified in the 1997 federal OMB standards for the collection of data on race and ethnicity, to the four race categories specified under the 1977 standards. Many data systems are continuing to use the 1977 standards during the transition to full implementation of the 1997 standards. Estimates were developed for each state and its counties by age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, and sex categories. The current set of estimates presented in this report has not been rounded. However, it should not be presumed that they have the degree of accuracy which such precise figures might imply. NCHS does not consider these estimates to be accurate for each individual cell and recommends aggregating the individual cells to larger groups when the data are used for purposes of analysis. Estimates are distributed by five-year Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 53 age groups, sex, five race/ethnicity groups (White, Black, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Asian and Pacific Islander), and each county, where Hispanics may be of any race and the other four race groups do not include Hispanics. It should be noted that while more than one race may have been selected on death certificates for 2004 and 2005, only one death had more than one race selected. In this case, all other sources for this death were examined and a “final” race imputed. QUALITY OF DATA The reporting of deaths by death certificate is considered to be essentially complete. According to NCHS, more than 99 percent of deaths are registered. The completeness of reporting by residence is dependent on the effective functioning of the interstate data exchange program for certificates which is fostered and encouraged by NCHS. Research has shown that there is some degree of slippage in receiving death certificate information on deaths of New Jersey residents occurring in other states. This holds true for the collection of data from out-of-state police and medical examiners as well. However, the number of missing events is thought to be small, relative to the overall number of events. The quality of death certificate data included in this report is a function of the accuracy and completeness of the information recorded on the respective certificates and records and of the quality control procedures employed in the coding and keying processes. For death certificates, a query program in which the individual(s) responsible for completing the certificate is questioned about missing or conflicting information is carried out by staff of BVS. This process is augmented by the data quality control analyses performed by the Center for Health Statistics using all of the NCHS edit criteria. In order to participate in the national VSCP, states had to achieve an error rate of 2% or less on each death certificate item for three consecutive months. The error rates relate to both coding and data entry errors. New Jersey has met the error tolerance requirements for the cooperative program. After satisfying initial requirements, a monthly sample of records is used to determine that the error rate is no more than 2% for each death certificate item other than the medical cause-of-death information. Due to the complexity of the coding system, cause-of-death coding on death certificates has a 5% error tolerance level set by NCHS. Part of the NVDRS value, however, is identifying violent deaths that may be coded one way on the death certificate, e.g. as natural or undetermined or unintentional, but another on the medical examiner or law enforcement report. If there is disagreement among data sources, a preponderance of evidence is used by the abstractor to most correctly assign a manner of death. 54 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention ALLOCATION OF DATA BY RESIDENCE OR OCCURRENCE For public health planning and policy determination, the most useful population to study is usually the resident population of an area. The existence of resident death certificate exchange agreements among the registration areas in the country permits analysis of resident death statistics. Allocation of deaths by place of residence within the state is sometimes difficult because classification depends on the statement of the usual place of residence provided by the informant at the time the certificate is completed. For a variety of reasons, the information given may be incorrectly recorded. A common source of error is the confusion of mailing address with residence address. The degree to which incorrect information on municipality of residence has been recorded on death certificates is not precisely known, but because NVDRS has redundancy of certain data elements from different sources, missing addresses in the death certificate are supplemented with medical and law enforcement data to make these data more complete than the death certificate alone. The care taken to reconcile addresses properly makes the quality of maps for residence and injury occurrence more useful. All residence and occurrence addresses have been geocoded by TeleAtlas and maps were created using ArcGIS software. RACE AND ETHNICITY CLASSIFICATION From the death certificate, a race group (White, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiian, Filipino, Asian Indian, Korean, Samoan, Vietnamese, Guamian, other Asian/Pacific Islander, other race, and an unknown race category) and an ethnicity (Non-Hispanic, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, other Hispanic, and an unknown ethnicity category) are reported for each individual for whom a death certificate is filed. Medical examiners report White Non-Hispanic, Black NonHispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian, Hispanic, unknown and other in a single variable, and race reporting on the police reports varies. Some only report race, no ethnicity, some report both, some report a combination like the medical examiner. All races and ethnicity have been reconciled into two variables in NVDRS. QC programs in the Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention in the Center for Health Statistics assign race and ethnicity using the death certificate as the primary source of information, followed by the medical examiner, than the law enforcement reports. As previously mentioned, the US Standard death certificate began reporting more than one race per person in 2003; this practice began in New Jersey in 2004. Only one person in NJVDRS had more than one race reported, and their race used in analysis was imputed based on data from other documents collected for that person. Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 55 Race/ethnicity designations used in this report are White, Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic. Hispanic may be of any race and the other race groups do not include Hispanics (but include Non-Hispanics and those with ethnicity not stated). The Hispanic category includes persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central/South American or other Hispanic ethnicity, regardless of race. The Asian/Pacific Islander category includes persons of Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiian, Filipino, Asian Indian, Korean, Samoan, Vietnamese, Guamian, and other Asian and Pacific Islander descent who were not reported as Hispanic. Race and ethnicity classifications are based on reports from respondents, usually a family member, or from persons responsible for preparing the death certificates. Race reporting of races other than White and Black and reporting of Hispanics ethnicity on death certificates is believed to be somewhat under-reported, but this issue is generally a problem only for certain minor civil divisions. RATES Counts, percentages and, whenever possible, rates are presented. The presentation of data as rates and ratios facilitates comparisons between subgroups of a population. Crude rates are calculated by dividing the number of events of a type that occur to the residents of an area by the resident population of an area or subgroup. The events are limited to those that occur within a specific time period, usually a year, and the population is, in general, the mid-year estimate of the resident population of the area. Crude rates are expressed in terms of occurrences within the standard, rounded population of 100,000. Some tables and figures present three-year average rates, which in this report represents 2003 through 2005. Three-year average rates are calculated by adding the number of events for each year and dividing by the combined population for each year. In order to compare death experiences among various ages and races or between the sexes, rates may be computed for subgroups of the population. These are referred to as age-, race-, or sex-specific rates and are calculated by dividing the relevant events within a subgroup by the population in the subgroup. The numbers of deaths in an area are directly related to the demographic characteristics of the area’s population. In comparing rates over time or among geographic areas, it is helpful to eliminate the effects of the differences in the populations’ demographic characteristics on the comparison. This can be accomplished through adjustments of the rates for the particular characteristics of interest. The most common type of adjustment of rates is for age. Direct adjustment of rates involves application of existing rates (age-, race-, or sex-specific) to a standard population to arrive at the theoretical number of events 56 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention that would occur in the standard population, at the rates prevailing in the actual population. These events are then divided by the total number of persons in the standard population to arrive at an adjusted rate. Adjusted rates are index numbers and cannot be compared to crude or other actual rates. The use of adjusted rates is limited to comparison with other adjusted rates, based on the same standard population. The standard population used in this report is the United States 2000 standard million, derived from the projection of counts from the 2000 decennial census. Caution should be exercised in the interpretation of rates and ratios based on small numbers. Chance variations in the number of deaths occurring in sparsely populated areas can cause rates to fluctuate widely over time. In accordance with NCHS standards, rates based on fewer than 20 cases are considered unreliable for analysis purposes. Therefore, these rates are not displayed and are indicated by “ ** “ in the appropriate cell. Caution should also be exercised when percents are reported based on cell sizes of fewer than 5 observations. Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 57 References Krug EG et al., eds. World report on violence and health. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2002. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Online]. 2007. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/default.htm Accessed April 25, 2007. 3 2 1 U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. http:// www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/addinfo.htm 4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). National Violent Death Reporting System Coding Manual. Version 2. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/nvdrs-coding/VS2/default.htm Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Online]. 2007. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/default.htm Accessed August 14, 2007. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Online]. 2007. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/default.htm Accessed August 14, 2007. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Online]. 2007. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/default.htm Accessed December 12, 2007. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Online]. 2007. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/default.htm Accessed September 21, 2007. New Jersey Department of Law & Public Safety, Division of the New Jersey State Police, Intelligence Section. Gangs in New Jersey: Municipal Law Enforcement Response to the 2007 NJSP Gang Survey. Available from http://www.njsp.org/info/pdf/njgangsurvey-2007.pdf 5 6 7 8 9 New Jersey Department of Law & Public Safety, Office of the Attorney General. Governor’s Strategy for Safe Streets and Neighborhoods. [Online]. 2007. Availalbe from http://nj.gov/oag/ crimeplan/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). National Violent Death Reporting System Coding Manual. Version 2. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/nvdrs-coding/VS2/default.htm National Center for Health Statistics. Bridged-race Vintage 2003, 2004 and 2005 postcensal population estimates for July 1, 2000 - July 1, 2005, by year, county, single-year of age, bridgedrace, Hispanic origin, and sex. Data files pcen_v2003.txt, pcen_v2004.txt, and pcen_v2005.txt. 2007. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/dvs/popbridge/popbridge.htm 58 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention 12 11 10 Appendices Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 59 Appendix A Development of the National Violent Death Reporting System Violent deaths represent a considerable public health concern across the United States and worldwide. While it is clear that violence represents a significant public health problem, no comprehensive surveillance system existed to track violent deaths in the United States. While significant information is collected on violent deaths by medical examiners, coroners, law enforcement, etc., this information is not always standardized or complete. The concept of utilizing a surveillance system to gather information which can then inform prevention specialists has already been proven effective by the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) for fatal motor vehicle crashes. FARS data is collected from all fifty states by the US Department of Transportation and has been in existence since 1975. FARS data have been used to evaluate the effectiveness of legislation on several motor vehiclerelated issues such as speed limits, restraint usage and federally mandated vehicle safety features.A1 Encouraged by this success, the CDC developed the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) from a smaller scale surveillance project administered through the Harvard University School of Public Health, the National Violent Injury Statistics System (NVISS). Beginning in 1999, thirteen NVISS sites collected data from various sources on violent deaths. NVISS results further supported the need for a national surveillance effort and in 2002 Congress appropriated funds to CDC to establish NVDRS in six states. NVDRS has since expanded to seventeen states. Incorporating the WHO definition of violence, a death which meets the criteria for inclusion in NVDRS is defined as “resulting from the intentional use of physical force or power against oneself, another person, or against a group or community.”A2 NVDRS includes all suicides, homicides, legal intervention deaths, unintentional firearm injury deaths and injury deaths of undetermined intent occurring within a state or to one of that state’s residents regardless of location. Legal intervention deaths are a subset of homicide and are deaths attributed to a law enforcement officer in the line if duty, and excludes legal execution. Terrorism is also considered a subset of homicide for which NVDRS provides a specific category. Injury deaths of undetermined intent are classified as such by a medical examiner or coroner when there is insufficient evidence to establish intent. These deaths are included in NVDRS because, while there may not be strong enough evidence to rule an 60 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention intent, enough information may be present to illustrate a death as accident-like, or suicidelike, or homicide-like, thus making this category of death of interest. In addition, NVDRS includes unintentional firearm injury deaths because some deaths in this category may in fact be intentional or of undetermined intent. NVDRS collects information not only on violent death victims, but also on suspects, allowing analysis of the relationships between victims and suspects, with an interest in informing prevention effots for juvenile violence, domestic violence and child and elder abuse. NVDRS collects information on the circumstances surrounding the deaths as well. Examples of circumstances include the mental health status of a suicide victim; whether the suicide victim experienced any recent crisis or problem; what, if any, crime precipitated a homicide; and if a homicide is gang- or drug-related. Another unique feature of NVDRS is that it is an incident-based system, grouping related victims and suspects into one incident. If multiple deaths are considered possibly related, they are grouped together if the injuries precipitating the deaths occur within 24 hours of each other. This does not prevent analysis from being performed on individual deaths but rather adds an additional layer of analysis for precipitating circumstances surrounding a series of events. Multiple death incidents, such as murder-suicides and multiple homicides, can be analyzed to determine if risk factors unique to those situations exist. As mentioned before, significant information is collected on violent deaths by a variety of sources. NVDRS is new in that it combines these data into a comprehensive surveillance system. Data for NVDRS is collected from primary data sources such as death certificates; reports from medical examiners or coroners and law enforcement. Secondary data sources include crime laboratories; hospitalization records; and Supplemental Homicide Reports (SHRs). Crime laboratory data elements include toxicology and ballistics testing results. SHRs are reports on homicides collected on a voluntary basis in each state and submitted monthly to the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program.A3 An additional source of information for firearminvolved crimes are data elements related to gun tracing performed by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). From the information collected from these various sources, the abstractor assigns a manner of death to each death involved in an incident. This manner is generally in line with the manner assigned on the death certificate (or at least one primary data source) and is used during analysis to standardize across states, as all NVDRS abstractors in each state follow the same guidelines for assigning manner. Confidential data is collected by each state and entered into specialized NVDRS software. Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 61 Data, in turn, are transmitted nightly to CDC. All confidential data are stripped prior to transmission to CDC. Inherent in surveillance is the concept of providing more timely results and NVDRS was developed keeping this in mind. Generally, information on vital events, such as births and deaths, is not available for at least two years. NVDRS timelines for data entry, however, are much tighter. Data elements from the death certificate are considered “early required” and are to be entered into the system within six months of the date of death; data elements from the other primary sources fall into 2 categories, “late required” and “optional”, both having a deadline of 18 months from the date of death. Incidents are to be considered completed by the final 18 month deadline. The goal of these deadlines is to provide valuable information to prevention specialists, policy-makers and researchers much faster than traditional vital events data are released. The purpose of NVDRS is to develop a comprehensive understanding of violent deaths. Providing timely, useful data to those involved in prevention allows for more directed and appropriate interventions. These data can be a valuable tool for illustrating the circumstances surrounding violent deaths from the multiple sources directly involved in investigating these deaths. NVDRS data can educate public health and public safety professionals, with the ultimate goal of reducing violent deaths. It is the intention that NVDRS will eventually be established in all fifty states for a truly “national” database. The National Violent Death Reporting System in New Jersey New Jersey was one of the original six states to receive funding. The New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System (NJVDRS) is housed in the Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention in the Center for Health Statistics, New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS). Data collection began in 2003 and includes all deaths meeting the criteria occurring within New Jersey or to a New Jerseyan regardless of location from January 1, 2003 forward. NJVDRS project staff has obtained data agreements with the source agencies necessary to complete the elements contained in the surveillance system. Death certificates are obtained from the State Bureau of Vital Statistics and Registration, NJDHSS. New Jersey has a medical examiner system and NJVDRS works with the Office of the State Medical Examiner (OSME) in the Division of Criminal Justice, New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety. OCME provides NJVDRS with the Report of the Investigation of the Medical Examiner (RIME), a standardized report collected from the Northern and Southern Regional Medical Examiner Offices, of which OSME has direct supervisory authority, and the remaining 15 county medical examiner offices, over which OSME has general supervisory capacity. 62 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Law enforcement data for homicides and suicides are collected in two ways. Initially, NJVDRS staff worked with 20 of the 21 county prosecutors’ offices and were allowed access to their files for homicides. Access provided the opportunity to abstract law enforcement data elements but the files generally contained other sources, like toxicology, ballistics reports and ATF trace data collected during the course of an investigation. During data collection for 2005 data, however, NJVDRS project staff began working with the Violent Crime Analysis Program in the New Jersey State Police. This program manages the Violent Crime Analysis Program (ViCAP) for New Jersey. ViCAP is a nationally standardized database of violent crimes within each state. One goal of ViCAP is to find possible links between crimes by comparing specifics such as date, location, modus operandi, victimology, offender description, offender behavior, involved vehicles, and weapons. Data from New Jersey ViCAP are forwarded to the FBI Violent Criminal Apprehension Program.A4 This program includes all homicides and many of its variables are similar to NVDRS variables. To that end, NJVDRS project staff has entered into a data agreement with New Jersey ViCAP and is now obtaining the required law enforcement variables for homicides from New Jersey ViCAP. The other method employed to obtain law enforcement records is directly contacting municipal law enforcement agencies, done primarily for suicides. New Jersey ViCAP does not cover suicides, unintentional firearm deaths, and injury deaths of undetermined intent, all of which meet the criteria for inclusion in NJVDRS, so NJVDRS project staff directly contacts municipal law enforcement agencies, which are generally the agency of record for these deaths. There are suicide deaths in which the municipal law enforcement agency is not the investigating agency, including a suicide completed within the jurisdiction of a park police, in an area covered by the New Jersey State Police, or within a correctional facility. These deaths are handled on a case-by-case basis with the correct agency being contacted for participation. Additional data elements include toxicology report results, which are usually available through the RIME. Supplemental Homicide Reports are obtained from the agency responsible for New Jersey’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program participation, the New Jersey State Police (NJSP). The NJSP also shares with NJVDRS additional information on offenders that have been arrested for a homicide and copies of the Domestic Violence Supplementary Reports, which are completed by officers investigating domestic violence incidents. In addition to the standard required data sources, New Jersey has also been selected to review the Child Fatality Review Module of NVDRS. Every state performs a review of all, Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 63 or a sample of, suspicious child deaths within their state by a multidisciplinary group of professionals from law enforcement, child welfare agencies, etc. NVDRS added a module to the database specific to the types of information that would be gathered and reviewed by a child fatality review board. The New Jersey Child Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board (NJCFNFRB) is administered by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families and has signed a data agreement with NJVDRS to share case files. Not all child deaths are investigated by NJCFNFRB so the module is only completed on those deaths on which a review process was completed. Incidents are initiated in NJVDRS using the monthly transmission of the RIME. Any death where the manner of death indicates “suicide”, “homicide”, “undetermined” (if death was precipitated by an injury), or “accidental” (if injury precipitating the death was caused by a firearm) are entered in NJVDRS. The RIME is queried for potentially related deaths so incidents are correctly initiated with related deaths being entered together. While the RIME is the primary initiating source, project staff also routinely inspect newspaper articles to possible identify deaths for inclusion. While not an official data source, newspaper articles provide preliminary details and can reveal relationships between two or more deaths that would signal inclusion in one incident. Once an incident is initiated, the remaining data sources are contacted and/or linked to the incident and abstraction is completed. Interest in the New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System project has been growing. NJVDRS is being recognized as a valuable source of timely intentional injury data for the state. In addition to working with the child fatality review board, NJVDRS has established a partnership with the New Jersey Domestic Violence Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board. NJVDRS is also working with state medical examiners on a homicide mapping project. In addition, NJVDRS has examined using the surveillance system to track gang activity by virtue of a proxy variable to measure “gang-like” homicides. Community suicide and homicide prevention specialists routinely use NJVDRS data to keep abreast of activity in the state with particular interest in youth suicide and juvenile homicide. NJVDRS will continue to be a source of valuable information and will continue to inform public health and public safety professionals and policymakers in their efforts to reduce intentional injury and death. A1 USDOT, NHTSA, National Center for Statistics and Analysis. Fatality Analysis Reporting System, Fatal Crash Data Overview. 809-726. CDC, National Violent Death Reporting System Coding Manual. Version 2, 2004. Atlanta, GA. A2 A3 U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. http:// www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/addinfo.htm http://www.njsp.org/divorg/invest/vicap.html Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention A4 64 Table A1. Complete table of suicide circumstances by age, 2003-2005 14 & under N 14 12 3 4 4 5 1 1 4 5 2 1 9 5 2 1 1 8.3 3 8.3 2 3.3 4.9 2 3.3 16.7 4 6.6 5 5 1 1 4 6.6 14 41.7 12 19.7 5 4.6 13.0 4.6 4.6 0.9 0.9 2 3.3 9 8.3 75.0 21 34.4 16 14.8 15 30 3 21 7 11 5 12 8.3 23 37.7 34 31.5 80 16.7 3 4.9 4 3.7 4 1.8 36.9 6.9 13.8 1.4 9.7 3.2 5.1 2.3 5.5 32 22 12 3 8 3 4.9 7 6.5 9 4.1 5 8.2 2 1.9 19 8.8 56 16 6 115 18 47 1 1.6 7 6.5 21 9.7 47 41.7 26 42.6 43 39.8 70 32.3 91 27.5 14.2 16.9 4.8 1.8 34.7 5.4 14.2 9.7 6.6 3.6 0.9 2.4 17 14 18 2 5 33.3 20 32.8 29 26.9 57 26.3 76 23.0 8.3 23 37.7 23 21.3 61 28.1 69 20.8 71 62 87 44 73 17 3 95 18 43 27 44.3 29 26.9 68 31.3 107 32.3 121 8.3 17 27.9 30 27.8 62 28.6 66 19.9 44 13.8 37.8 22.2 19.4 27.2 13.8 22.8 5.3 0.9 29.7 5.6 13.4 5.3 4.4 5.6 0.6 1.6 7 4 4 2 7 30 9 31 3 4.9 21 19.4 34 15.7 77 23.3 65 20.3 41.7 25 41.0 38 35.2 83 38.2 133 40.2 133 41.6 93 30 7 64 37 30 34 22 51 11 33.3 22 36.1 26 24.1 66 30.4 114 34.4 116 36.3 87 33.3 29 47.5 36 33.3 94 43.3 158 47.7 153 47.8 106 52.7 43.3 46.3 14.9 3.5 31.8 18.4 14.9 16.9 10.9 25.4 5.5 14.9 4.5 15.4 3.5 2.0 2.0 1.0 3.5 4 2 2 3 9 3 5 25.0 33 54.1 35 32.4 84 38.7 126 38.1 119 37.2 90 44.8 49 41 33 34 7 2 42 8 22 18 4 62 8 85.7 61 85.9 108 77.7 217 84.4 331 86.2 320 86.5 201 84.8 109 100 71 100 139 100 257 100 384 100 370 100 237 100 121 100 90.1 45.0 37.6 30.3 31.2 6.4 1.8 38.5 7.3 20.2 16.5 3.7 56.9 7.3 8.3 2.8 4.6 1.8 1.8 2.8 3.7 3 1 5 % N % N % N % N % N % N % N % N 164 139 61 43 36 35 4 1 51 13 27 20 3 92 20 3 6 1 15-19 20-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75 & older % 100 84.8 43.9 30.9 25.9 25.2 2.9 0.7 36.7 9.4 19.4 14.4 2.2 66.2 14.4 2.2 4.3 0.7 0.7 3.6 2.2 Total suicides Circum stances present Of suicides w ith circum stances present: Current depressed m ood Current m ental health problem Current m ental health treatm ent Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 Ever treated for m ental illness Alcohol problem Substance abuse problem Suicide note History of suicide attem pts Disclosed intent to com plete suicide Crisis w ithin tw o w eeks Financial problem Appendix B Physical health problem Death of friend of fam ily in past 5 years Suicide of friend of fam ily in past 5 years Intim ate partner problem Other relationship problem Job problem School problem Recent crim inal legal problem Legal problem (not crim inal) Perpetrator of violence (in past m onth) Victim of violence (in past m onth) Other suicide circum stance Data sources: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007. 65 66 14 & under N 66 58 9 6 3 7 41 4 3 5 1 6 14 24.1 4 5.1 1 1.3 1 4 3 3.8 2 2 1.6 1.6 0.8 3.2 10.3 7 1 6 1.7 7 8.9 11 8.7 15 1 1 0.8 2 0.9 7.1 0.5 3.3 0.5 2.8 3 6 2 4 1 5 8.6 2 2.5 3 2.4 8 3.8 3 3.8 8 6.3 6 2.8 2 2 3 1 0.8 1.6 1.6 2.3 2.3 4.7 1.6 3.1 0.8 3.9 3 1 1 2 1 2 5.2 23 29.1 18 14.3 24 11.4 3 2.3 1 5 6.9 12 15.2 22 17.5 58 27.5 31 24.2 70.7 26 32.9 43 34.1 62 29.4 26 20.3 19 10 1 12.1 8 10.1 9 7.1 36 17.1 38 29.7 22 3 3.8 7 5.6 13 6.2 8 6.3 2 2.8 31.0 26.8 14.1 1.4 1.4 7.0 1.4 1.4 2.8 1.4 2.8 4.2 3 1 2 2 3 5.2 7 8.9 11 8.7 17 8.1 8 6.3 5 7.0 8 5 6 1 10.3 7 8.9 13 10.3 26 12.3 15 11.7 8 11.3 6 3 15.5 18 22.8 33 26.2 51 24.2 37 28.9 20 28.2 16 43.2 16.2 8.1 21.6 13.5 16.2 2.7 8.1 2.7 5.4 5.4 8.1 8 7 2 8 6 2 1 87.9 79 60.3 126 53.4 211 57.7 128 63.1 71 64.5 37 60.7 100 131 100 236 100 366 100 203 100 110 100 61 100 32 27 8 5 % N % N % N % N % N % N % N % 100 84.4 29.6 18.5 29.6 22.2 7.4 3.7 7.4 25.9 29.6 6 2 1 6 2 15-19 20-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75 & older N 22 18 4 3 1 % 100 81.8 22.2 16.7 5.6 33.3 11.1 5.6 11.1 33.3 Table A2. Complete table of homicide circumstances by age, 2003-2005 Total homicide Circum stances present Of hom icide w ith circum stances present: Precipitated by another crim e Crim e in progress Argum ent over m oney or property Jealousy (lover's triangle) Intim ate partner violence related Other argum ent, abuse, or conflict Drug involvem ent Gang-related Hate crim e Braw l (m utual physical fight) Appendix C Victim w as a bystander Victim w as a police officer on duty Victim w as intervening Drive-by shooting Mentally ill suspect Random violence Victim used a w eapon Justifiable self-defense/law enforcem ent Other hom icide circum stance Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Data sources: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007. Appendix D Injury Deaths of Undetermined Intent Death certificates and medical examiner reports both contain “manner of death”. Undetermined intent is chosen by the medical examiner when there is not enough evidence available to make a definitive ruling for homicide, suicide, unintentional or natural death. Only undetermined deaths caused by an injury are included in NVDRS. Since the “undetermined” manner on the death certificate or medical examiner report will include all deaths of that manner, the NJVDRS abstractor is required to properly identify a death that was precipitated by an injury. Based on NVISS experiences, the assumption was made that many injury deaths of undetermined intent were most likely really suicides, so NVDRS undetermined circumstances are the same as the suicide circumstances. However, abstraction in New Jersey (and anecdotal information from other states) has revealed that many of these deaths could also be potential homicides; those results are not included in this report. Table A3. Comparison of victim characteristics in suicide and injury deaths of undetermined intent, New Jersey residents, 2003-2005 Suicide N % 1,758 100 1,390 79.1 368 20.9 14 0.8 210 11.9 257 14.6 384 21.8 370 21.0 237 13.5 121 6.9 164 9.3 1 0.1 1,406 80.0 135 7.7 136 7.7 63 3.6 11 0.6 7 0.4 Undetermined N % 245 100 145 59.2 100 40.8 6 2.4 1 0.4 22 9.0 24 9.8 73 29.8 67 27.3 27 11.0 13 5.3 11 4.5 1 0.4 175 71.4 43 17.6 22 9.0 3 1.2 2 0.8 Total Male Female Under 5 years 5-14 years 15-24 years 25-34 years 35-44 years 45-54 years 55-64 years 65-74 75+ Unknown age White Black Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander Other specified race Unknown race/ethnicity Data so urces: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 67 • Nearly half of deaths of undetermined intent are due to poisoning. Broadly, characteristics of injury deaths of undetermined intent that are potential suicides are similar to the characteristics of deaths actually ruled suicide: there were more male injury deaths of undetermined intent than females; and the highest proportion of deaths are among the middle-aged and non-Hispanic whites (Table A3). Nearly half are due to poisoning; compared with nearly one quarter of suicides. Females are more likely to be ruled an undetermined intent poisoning than males, whereas males are more likely to have an equivocal death from a fall or drowning (Figure A1). Persons whose deaths are ruled as undetermined intent have more reported histories of mental illness, and more reported substance abuse and alcohol problems than is reported for suicides, which is consistent with the relatively high proportion of poisonings in this category. Mental health issues are reported more for female victims, except for substance abuse problems. Over 60% of female victims had been treated for a mental illness, and physical health problem is noted in nearly 30% of female victims and just under one quarter of male victims (Table A4). Figure A1. Weapons/mechanisms used in injury deaths of undetermined intent, 2003-2005 60% Percent of undetermineds 40% 20% 0% Firearm Poisoning Suffocation Drow ning Fall Other specified w eapons Unknow n Males Data Source: New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System, v.11/26/2007. Females 68 Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention • Current or previous treatment for a mental health problem is present in almost half the cases. Forty-four percent of male victims have a substance abuse problem compared to 25% of the female victims. Table A4. NJVDRS circumstances for injury deaths of undetermined intent by gender, 2003-2005 Males N % 145 100 70 48.3 12 32 26 31 13 31 1 6 3 8 1 2 16 4 3 10 2 3 1 1 17.1 45.7 37.1 44.3 18.6 44.3 1.4 8.6 4.3 11.4 1.4 2.9 22.9 5.7 4.3 14.3 2.9 4.3 1.4 1.4 Females N % 100 100 48 48.0 13 30 24 29 12 12 5 2 10 1 14 2 1 7 2 1 1 27.1 62.5 50.0 60.4 25.0 25.0 10.4 4.2 20.8 2.1 29.2 4.2 2.1 14.6 4.2 2.1 2.1 Total N 245 118 25 62 50 60 25 43 1 11 5 18 1 3 30 6 4 17 4 4 1 1 1 % 100 48.2 21.2 52.5 42.4 50.8 21.2 36.4 0.8 9.3 4.2 15.3 0.8 2.5 25.4 5.1 3.4 14.4 3.4 3.4 0.8 0.8 0.8 Total undetermined deaths Circumstances present Of undetermineds with circumstances present: Current depressed mood Current mental health problem Current mental health treatment Ever treated for mental illness Alcohol problem Substance abuse problem Suicide note History of suicide attempts Disclosed intent to complete suicide Crisis within two weeks Job problem Financial problem Physical health problem Death of friend of family in past 5 years Suicide of friend of family in past 5 years Intimate partner problem Other relationship problem Recent criminal legal problem Perpetrator of violence (in past month) Victim of violence (in past month) Other suicide circumstance Data so urce: New Jersey Vio lent Death Repo rting System, v.1 /26/2007. 1 Violent Death in New Jersey, 2003 - 2005 69 70

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