The FBI's annual "Crime in the United States" report shows violent crime in Asbury Park had a 21 percent drop in violent crime last year, from 264 in 2013 to 209 in 2014.
Many municipalities in Monmouth County showed declines in violent crime from 2013 to 2014, including Asbury Park, which continued to have the highest number of incidents in that category, according to data released Monday by the FBI.
The FBI's annual "Crime in the United States" report shows Asbury Park had 209 violent crimes in 2014, a 21 percent drop from the 264 in 2013. The violent crime totals included in the report are composed of murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault offenses.
The decrease in violent crime in Asbury Park includes a decline in murders and non-negligent manslaughter cases from six in 2013 to one in 2014, according to the data. And the number of robberies dropped from 126 in 2013 to 85 in 2014.
Asbury Park had 13 rape cases in 2014, up from nine the previous year, and aggravated assault incidents dipped from 123 in 2013 to 110 in 2014.
RELATED: Monmouth County violent crime down in 2013, report says
Acting police Chief Anthony Salerno attributed the decline in violent crime to five factors: increased patrols in the highest violent-crime areas, more cops on foot and bikes in the southwest part of the city, an increase in the street crime unit from four days a week to seven, more joint investigations with other agencies and the addition of officers to replace retirees.
"There were some significant changes in our philosophy in policing," Salerno said. "That is that we went back to old tried-and-true forms of policing."
He said the department has also improved community-policing programs that help the officers build relationships and bond with the residents.
Still, Asbury Park, the 16th most populous municipality in the county, had the highest number of violent crime incidents in Monmouth County.
Salerno said fighting crime is an "ongoing continual effort" and won't be amended overnight. But the city had the lowest number of violent crime incidents in more than three decades, he noted.
"While we're happy with the results, we're not going to rest on those results," he said. "We still have a lot of work to do ... to not only rid the city of crime, but also its reputation that has preceded it as a crime-ridden city."
Neptune Township, which borders Asbury Park and has a population of almost 30,000, had the second highest number of violent crime incidents in 2014, at 172. That's down slightly from 174 incidents in 2013.
Most of the municipalities in Monmouth County had less than 50 violent crimes in 2014, the report indicates. At 97, Long Branch was the only other town with more than 50 violent crime incidents.
The report shows that all three of those municipalities also had the highest number of property crimes in the county in 2014, with Neptune Township at 1,398; Asbury Park at 814; and Long Branch at 741.
While the FBI report offers some insight into crime at the local level, State Police release a more comprehensive report on an annual basis. The most recent report, which was released in April, showed a total of 12,451 crimes were reported to law enforcement agencies across Monmouth County in 2013. The number was a 6 percent decrease compared to 2012.
Violent crime in the county dropped 5 percent and non-violent offenses were down 6 percent from the prior year, according to the report.
The most recent reported released by the FBI showed that crime declined across New Jersey last year.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
