Who polices Upper Montclair, and what they report
Upper Montclair has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Essex County. The Essex County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Upper Montclair alone, and no Safety Grade.
What stands out about safety in Upper Montclair
Policed by the county
Upper Montclair is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Essex County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Essex County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Upper Montclair. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest New Jersey towns with their own police figures are Montclair Township (B+, 1 mi), Cedar Grove Township (A, 2 mi), Verona Township (A, 2 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Upper Montclair. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Essex County Sheriff’s Office reports
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Essex County without police of their own, which include Upper Montclair.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
Also reports crimes in Essex County to the FBI.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Essex County Sheriff’s Office
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
The nearest New Jersey towns with a Safety Grade
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montclair Township | B+ | 1 mi | 1.0 | 7.0 |
| Cedar Grove Township | A | 2 mi | 0.2 | 5.6 |
| Verona Township | A | 2 mi | 0.4 | 5.0 |
| Bloomfield Township | B− | 2 mi | 1.0 | 14.4 |
| Little Falls Township | A− | 2 mi | 0.9 | 5.8 |
| Glen Ridge | B | 3 mi | 0.4 | 13.0 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Upper Montclair. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Upper Montclair.
Three people died in crashes on Upper Montclair’s roads in 2019–2023
Upper Montclair had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 2 were pedestrians.
That is about what is typical for New Jersey towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (4.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Upper Montclair’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Upper Montclair’s own rate (4.8) is context, not a ranking.
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Upper Montclair and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montclair Township | B+ | 1.0 | 7.0 |
| Cedar Grove Township | A | 0.2 | 5.6 |
| Clifton | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Clifton reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Upper Montclair
Is Upper Montclair, NJ safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Upper Montclair. Upper Montclair has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Essex County. The Essex County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Upper Montclair alone, and no Safety Grade. The nearest New Jersey towns with a grade are Montclair Township (B+, 1 mi), Cedar Grove Township (A, 2 mi), Verona Township (A, 2 mi).
Who polices Upper Montclair?
The Essex County Sheriff’s Office. Upper Montclair is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Essex County without police of their own.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Upper Montclair.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.