Safety · Independence
Independence, NJ crime & safety
Independence's reported crime rate is well below New Jersey's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025.
Crime reported to police, trends and how Independence compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
TownTapestry Safety GradeNew
A+
Independence’s Safety Grade: A+
Independence reports less crime per resident than 97% of the U.S. towns and cities we grade.
AViolent crimeA+Property crime→Steady since 2023
All U.S. towns we grade (6,620)Safer than 97%
More reported crimeLess reported crime
New Jersey towns we grade (318)Safer than 96%
Places of 5,000–25,000 people (2,890)Safer than 98%
High confidence. Built on 31 incidents over 3 years; ordinary year-to-year swings wouldn't change the grade.
How the Safety Grade works
- One score, from FBI data. Property crimes + 4 × violent crimes reported to police, per resident, pooled over the FBI’s latest 3 years (2023–2025). Violent crime counts four times as much because it matters more to how safe a place feels. It’s the same score behind our Safest towns in NJ ranking.
- Graded on a national curve. Every U.S. town and city with 1,000+ residents that reported all 3 years (6,620 places) is lined up by score: A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
- Violent and property sub-grades use the same curve on each rate alone.
- Trend compares 2025 with 2023 and only says “improving” or “rising” when the change is bigger than normal year-to-year swings.
- Not graded: towns under 1,000 people, and towns missing any of the 3 years.
- What it can’t see: unreported crime, traffic safety, or which part of town incidents happen in. Towns with a campus, highway or big shopping center count incidents involving visitors. It’s our own summary of public data, not an official rating.
Reported crime, 2025
Independence at a glance
Violent crime
0.5
per 1,000 residents · New Jersey 2
Property crime
2.5
per 1,000 residents · New Jersey 12.7
Incidents reported
17
3 violent · 14 property
Violent crime per 1,000
Property crime per 1,000
Trend
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025
IndependenceNew Jersey
Solid lines: property crime · dashed: violent crime.
Show as a table
| Year | Independence property | New Jersey property | Independence violent | New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.3 | 14.3 | 0.4 | 2.2 |
| 2023 | 1.1 | 15.5 | 0.2 | 2.3 |
| 2024 | 0.7 | 14.3 | 0.5 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 2.5 | 12.7 | 0.5 | 2 |
What gets reported
2025, by type
Larceny / theft
11
Burglary
1
Vehicle theft
2
Aggravated assault
0
Robbery
0
Rape
3
Homicide
0
Arson
0
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Who keeps Independence safe
Local public safety
👮 Independence Police DepartmentReports its crime counts to the FBI — the figures on this page.
🚨 EmergenciesCall 911. For non-emergency numbers, alerts and preparedness, see the town guide.
Next door
Independence and its neighbors
Reported crime per 1,000 residents in each town's latest year. * = a count, for towns under 1,000 people. Grade: the Safety Grade; — = not graded.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independence | A+ | 0.5 | 2.5 | 2025 |
| Hackettstown | A | 0.4 | 4.2 | 2025 |
No town figures in the FBI's data: Allamuchy, Mansfield, Liberty, Frelinghuysen.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can't tell you
- It's reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many thefts and some assaults are never reported.
- Small numbers swing. In a town of about 5,700, a handful of incidents moves the rate noticeably from year to year. The trend matters more than any one year.
- Visitors count too. Towns with a campus, highway, beach or shopping center see incidents involving people who don't live there, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn't report a full year, not that nothing happened.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. This isn't an official statement of public safety — in an emergency, call 911.