Long-struggling Newark, NJ, marks its 1st month without a killing since 1966

Newark, NJ, marks 1st murder-free month since 1966

NEWARK, N.J. — Law enforcement officials in Newark, N.J., say March was the city’s first month without a killing in more than 40 years.

Police Director Garry McCarthy said this week that the last time the city went through a calendar month without a murder was in May 1966.

McCarthy attributes the decreases to progress by police in combatting the narcotics trade.

The reprieve comes as welcome news in a city that has become a symbol of urban crime and blight since it was rocked by riots in the late 1960s.