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TRENTON-New Jersey's murder rate rose for a third straight year in 2006, while overall crime was down 2 percent compared to 2005, according to crime statistics released Tuesday. Some 427 people were killed last year, up from 418 the prior year and 392 in 2004, according to the state police's annual compilation of crime, the Uniform Crime Report.A gun was used to kill about two of every three murder victims, the report shows. Drug or gang violence accounted for 45 of the killings, or 11 percent of the total-a number unchanged from the prior year.Gov. Jon S. Corzine and Attorney General Anne Milgram last week unveiled new initiatives designed to reduce New Jersey's escalating murder rate, and to combat gang-related violence.Tuesday's report underscores the need for the new strategy, Milgram said."We must be aggressive in adopting intelligence-led policing to reduce the number of gun crimes and murders," she said. "We also need stiffer penalties for illegal gun possession."Overall, New Jersey was safer last year than in 2005, with violent crime down 1 percent and nonviolent crime down 2 percent.However, bias crimes rose last year to 825 incidents, up from 792 in 2005.The crime report is based on information provided by municipal, county and state police agencies and encompasses offenses from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2006.As in the days of Noah....
