Some residents insist that crime doesn't happen in their small town. But West Long Branch has the 10th-highest major crime rate in the county, and residents' belief that they are safe may leave them vulnerable, police said. Back to Crime in Your Town Major crimes are murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and theft. Besides a triple murder in 1995, there have been no other homicides since at least 1981.
Nonviolent crimes are burglaries, thefts and automobile thefts.
Burglaries accounted for 92 percent of the nonviolent offenses in the borough in 1996. Joseph Hellmers said many of those burglaries were car break-ins. Wandering teen-agers and young adults steal car phones, pagers and tokens for the Garden State Parkway. The problem is people don't lock their cars at night. Bennett Van Brunt, who lives on Henderson Place, said he has noticed the rising number of car break-ins listed in the local newspapers, and they seem to be coming closer to his house.