Newark and Camden among 25 most peaceful areas in nation, report says

[Make Newark Clean]

The picture of Newark from Harrison with the soccer arena in the foreground is stunning.

Anyway, the stats don't lie. Newark METRO is among the most peaceful areas in the country, like the rest of New Jersey. You know why? Because New Jersey has stringent laws controlling guns, which discourages their proliferation. So most of the shooting activity takes places in specific areas, unfortunately, of Newark itself. Indeed, the city is awash in illegal guns and an economic nexus supporting their use. In dense, impoverished blocks, guns have spread beyond enforcement for illegal enterprise into the expression of anger at everyday life. Newark is the outlier for its own metropolitan region, and it's not because you cannot carry a concealed weapon, the popular belief on NJ.com. In fact, it is Newark's vicious-cycle arms race -- with everyone feeling he needs to carry a firearm for protection whether it's legal or otherwise -- that stands it apart. Too many guns!

Linden, Roselle have their occasional gun violence. That's true. But in their historically black neighborhoods violent crime has been, and continues to be, at a very low ebb, in fact, IIRC, our "fearful" black neighborhoods are BELOW AVERAGE NATIONALLY for violent crime. This report pretty much says so. Booker, Newark police are right to target specific groups to address violent crime. But there also needs to be real opportunities for dignified, lucrative upward mobility provided to generations of low-income people in order to break the cycle of anger and dysfunction. Hundreds of millions going to the Vanderbeeks and office towers will never buy peace nor adequately displace these groups.

Newark and Camden among 25 most peaceful areas in nation, report says

Both the Newark and Camden areas are among the 25 most peaceful metro areas in the country, according to a report produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace in Washington, D.C.

The Camden area placed 14th on a list ranking 61 metro areas in the county, while Newark-Union was assigned the No. 24 spot. The Edison-New Brunswick area was named the second most peaceful area in the country...

http://economicsandpeace.org/