That is what township police say happened when Freehold Raceway Mall opened in August 1990. Compared with 216 New Jersey municipalities that fit the township's suburban profile, Freehold Township ranked 65th-highest. George Etlinger, a police spokesman. It's the mall. Nearly nine out of 10 major crimes in the township are thefts, according to an Asbury Park Press review of FBI crime reports.
Violent crime is at a minimum in the township.
Last year, there were five robberies and six aggravated assaults in a town of approximately 30,000 people. These could be shoplifting, thefts from vehicles, disorderly persons, motor-vehicle thefts and first aid calls. That is a jump from 8 percent, when the mall first opened, and is attributed to the mall's growth, police said. Traffic around the mall also keeps police busy, Etlinger said. By Thanksgiving, the traditional beginning of the holiday shopping season, police expect to be operating a substation in space provided by the mall, Etlinger said.