NEWARK, N.J.—More than two dozen people recently sat around a conference table in this working-class city, poring over crime statistics and pondering how to bring the numbers down.
Most weren’t police officers, and the focus wasn’t on boosting arrests.
Instead, the Newark Public Safety Collaborative, which is spearheaded by academics and includes social-service agencies, hospitals, schools, police and the city, talked about installing new streetlights and figuring out why bodegas seem to be magnets for crime.