Crime reports down for 2002
Ryan Carter
Police are touting a decrease in crime last year paralleled by
reductions in theft and violent crime.
The total number of what police call Part 1 offenses -- murder,
rape, robbery, assault, burglary and theft -- decreased by 5% from
the year before, according to police data. Last year, 3,216 Part 1
crimes were reported, compared to 3,377 the previous year.
Police were surprised at the numbers because crime tends to fester
when the economy slumps, they said. But they also cited factors that
might have contributed to the decrease.
“It shows that it’s just the right combination of things coming
together,” Deputy Chief Larry Koch said. “And policing has something
to do with it in terms of directing our efforts in certain areas.”
Thefts, for example, were down 8% from 2,013 to 1,851, which Koch
said was unexpected, given the opening of the new Empire Center and
its potential for attracting customers and crooks. But more vigilant
security, prevention and increased membership in neighborhood-watch
programs might have helped push the numbers down, Sgt. John Dilibert
said.
Koch also said plain old-fashioned police visibility might have
prevented some crimes, including theft.
One area police said crime analysis helped was in the arrest of
two suspects in November for a rash of car burglaries in the 200 and
300 blocks of Screenland Drive.
“These auto burglars, they had been responsible for double-digit
numbers of crime. You clear those and you prevent other cases,” Koch
said.
Violent crimes -- murder, rape, robbery and assaults -- were down
17% in 2002. Only one alleged murder, in which a woman was hit by a
truck and killed as she stood outside a radio station , occurred in
2002. In 2001, three murders were reported.