I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer, and now – bring on Wildcat football!
I hate to hit you with bad news, but we in District 10 have a problem. Our crime statistics continue to go in the wrong direction, and we all need to take some action. The good news is that violent crime has decreased over 4 percent, but the bad news is nonviolent crime has increased over 28 percent.
To be more specific: business burglary is up 10 percent; residential burglary is up 16 percent; burglary of motor vehicle (stealing belongings out of the car) is up 40 percent; auto theft is up 23 percent; and other theft is up 30 percent.
We all can help to turn this around.
The first thing is to not leave valuables in your car in full view. Much of the burglary of motor vehicle involves cell phones and other electronic equipment such as laptop computers. If you leave your car out at night, try to leave on extra flood or porch lights, but always bring your valuables inside the house.
If you’re going to the movies or out to dinner or the grocery, take your phone with you or lock everything in the trunk. I know it’s a hassle, but you don’t want to be the next victim.
Areas where a large number of cars are parked, such as the shopping centers and theaters, are getting hammered with the thefts of items left in them.
The police department is continuing to work on different crime initiatives, and this is showing some positive results. Since the inception of these special enforcement initiatives began April 1, the statistics have only increased 9 percent. The point here, though, is that they still increased but not at the double-digit rate.
To make sure that you understand our officers are doing their part, through June officers have made an accumulative total of seven felony arrests, 39 investigative arrests, 84 city arrests, issued 46 hazardous citations and 173 regulatory violations, checked 587 suspicious persons, recovered 18 stolen vehicles, cleared 13 offenses, answered 88 calls, recovered one gun, and conducted 28 knock-and-talks on known offenders.
This represents over 1,094.5 hours of work just from the officers and other personnel working on the initiative in District 10 from April through June.
If you see one of our dedicated officers, say thanks, but we can help ourselves – especially until we start seeing reduction in crime.
Finally, by the time you read this, I hope the auto tax is dead. If not, I will try again next year.
