LR Violent Crime Growth Leveling
LR violent crime growth seen leveling off
BY PHILLIP REESE AND MICHAEL FRAZIER ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Reports of violent crime edged up in Little Rock and reported property crime dipped substantially during 2004, leading community leaders and a local criminologist to suggest that the city’s crime rate has leveled off.
Murders and rapes were down during 2004, but robberies remained steady, and aggravated assaults were up, causing an overall 5 percent increase in violent crime citywide from 2003 to 2004, according to an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette analysis of police data.
Forty murders were recorded in the city during 2004, down from 50 in 2003. Reports of aggravated assaults rose from 1,799 during 2003 to 2,025 in 2004. Around 900 robberies were reported last year, similar to the year before. Reported rapes dropped from 152 to 136.
The rise in violent crime during 2004 pales in comparison to the 53 percent increase in the violent crime rate that occurred in the city between 2001 and 2003. In 2001, about 1,900 violent crimes were reported in the city, compared with about 2,900 in 2003.
"We’ve probably topped out," said Jeff Walker, a criminologist at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. "I think you are seeing a plateau."
Reports of property crimes fell or remained steady in almost all areas of the city, leading to an overall 10 percent drop, the newspaper’s analysis showed.
Increased community participation in crime watch programs were behind the drop in property crime and the smaller increase in violent crime, law enforcement officials, community leaders and others said.
In southwest Little Rock, one community group started the "nosy neighbor system" to battle property crime in its area. The effort began after back-to-back break-ins at homes on Meadowcliff and Glendale drives in 2003.
"We’ve tried to strengthen our neighborhood by people watching out," said Herb Dicker, president of the Meadowcliff Neighborhood Association. "We are a tight group and watch over each other’s property."
The Police Department also effectively targeted some highcrime areas such as the south midtown neighborhood near University and Asher avenues, officials and neighborhood leaders said.
"The Little Rock Police Department has really been successful in its use of neighborhood watches, alert centers and community policing — all contributing to a reduction in crime," said James Golden, an associate professor of criminal justice at UALR.
"But the police can’t do it by themselves. The citizens have done a good job of stepping up to help."
Other cities in the region posted similar numbers. Shreveport reported a 6 percent increase in violent crime and a 2 percent decrease in property crime, officials there said. Violent crime rose 9 percent in Tulsa through November, while property crime decreased 2 percent. Memphis reported a 7 percent decrease in murders, but no other crime statistics were available.
The results of the newspaper’s analysis are not official.
Figures were pulled from a database obtained from the Police Department listing all criminal incidents reported during 2003 and 2004. A few of the reported crimes in the database later turned out to be false — that’s especially true of rapes.
While the department plans to issue preliminary numbers this week, the FBI will not release its official numbers until later this year.
In similar breakdowns performed by the newspaper in the past, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s crime figures have closely matched totals reported to the FBI.
A big part of the Police Department’s crime-fighting efforts is ComStat, a crime abatement initiative — short for Computer Comparison Statistics — in which police map high-crime areas as immediate targets.
"It lets us look at the numbers and make the adjustments, 24 hours a day," said Little Rock Police Capt. Hayward Finks, patrol commander for downtown and south midtown. "We look at the big picture and see how we can connect the dots and solve the problem."
ComStat works especially well when it is used to combat property crime, Finks said. It’s a big reason property crime fell across the city. "We can usually see the pattern" with property crime, Finks said, adding that with violent crime, "it’s random. It happens a lot in private residences and it is hard to police that."
The department also relied heavily on residents to report trouble in their neighborhoods.
"People in general have just realized that if we are going to be safe, it’s going to take all of us," said Little Rock police spokesman Sgt. Terry Hastings.
Each of the city’s 14 alert centers was initially staffed with three community police officers but that number has been reduced to one at each because of a staffing shortfall.
The bottom line, Walker said, is that police must remain vigilant and the city must give the department the resources it needs to combat crime. Only then, he said, will violent crime drop citywide, instead of edging higher.
"What will happen next year, if the Police Department says, "We’ve won the war and back to business as usual," then you will see [crime] bump up again," Walker said. "If they keep working on it, you will probably see it going down." Information for this report was contributed by Brandon Tubbs of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
This story was published Monday, February 14, 2005
Copyright © 2005, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.
BY PHILLIP REESE AND MICHAEL FRAZIER ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Reports of violent crime edged up in Little Rock and reported property crime dipped substantially during 2004, leading community leaders and a local criminologist to suggest that the city’s crime rate has leveled off.
Murders and rapes were down during 2004, but robberies remained steady, and aggravated assaults were up, causing an overall 5 percent increase in violent crime citywide from 2003 to 2004, according to an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette analysis of police data.
Forty murders were recorded in the city during 2004, down from 50 in 2003. Reports of aggravated assaults rose from 1,799 during 2003 to 2,025 in 2004. Around 900 robberies were reported last year, similar to the year before. Reported rapes dropped from 152 to 136.
The rise in violent crime during 2004 pales in comparison to the 53 percent increase in the violent crime rate that occurred in the city between 2001 and 2003. In 2001, about 1,900 violent crimes were reported in the city, compared with about 2,900 in 2003.
"We’ve probably topped out," said Jeff Walker, a criminologist at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. "I think you are seeing a plateau."
Reports of property crimes fell or remained steady in almost all areas of the city, leading to an overall 10 percent drop, the newspaper’s analysis showed.
Increased community participation in crime watch programs were behind the drop in property crime and the smaller increase in violent crime, law enforcement officials, community leaders and others said.
In southwest Little Rock, one community group started the "nosy neighbor system" to battle property crime in its area. The effort began after back-to-back break-ins at homes on Meadowcliff and Glendale drives in 2003.
"We’ve tried to strengthen our neighborhood by people watching out," said Herb Dicker, president of the Meadowcliff Neighborhood Association. "We are a tight group and watch over each other’s property."
The Police Department also effectively targeted some highcrime areas such as the south midtown neighborhood near University and Asher avenues, officials and neighborhood leaders said.
"The Little Rock Police Department has really been successful in its use of neighborhood watches, alert centers and community policing — all contributing to a reduction in crime," said James Golden, an associate professor of criminal justice at UALR.
"But the police can’t do it by themselves. The citizens have done a good job of stepping up to help."
Other cities in the region posted similar numbers. Shreveport reported a 6 percent increase in violent crime and a 2 percent decrease in property crime, officials there said. Violent crime rose 9 percent in Tulsa through November, while property crime decreased 2 percent. Memphis reported a 7 percent decrease in murders, but no other crime statistics were available.
The results of the newspaper’s analysis are not official.
Figures were pulled from a database obtained from the Police Department listing all criminal incidents reported during 2003 and 2004. A few of the reported crimes in the database later turned out to be false — that’s especially true of rapes.
While the department plans to issue preliminary numbers this week, the FBI will not release its official numbers until later this year.
In similar breakdowns performed by the newspaper in the past, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s crime figures have closely matched totals reported to the FBI.
A big part of the Police Department’s crime-fighting efforts is ComStat, a crime abatement initiative — short for Computer Comparison Statistics — in which police map high-crime areas as immediate targets.
"It lets us look at the numbers and make the adjustments, 24 hours a day," said Little Rock Police Capt. Hayward Finks, patrol commander for downtown and south midtown. "We look at the big picture and see how we can connect the dots and solve the problem."
ComStat works especially well when it is used to combat property crime, Finks said. It’s a big reason property crime fell across the city. "We can usually see the pattern" with property crime, Finks said, adding that with violent crime, "it’s random. It happens a lot in private residences and it is hard to police that."
The department also relied heavily on residents to report trouble in their neighborhoods.
"People in general have just realized that if we are going to be safe, it’s going to take all of us," said Little Rock police spokesman Sgt. Terry Hastings.
Each of the city’s 14 alert centers was initially staffed with three community police officers but that number has been reduced to one at each because of a staffing shortfall.
The bottom line, Walker said, is that police must remain vigilant and the city must give the department the resources it needs to combat crime. Only then, he said, will violent crime drop citywide, instead of edging higher.
"What will happen next year, if the Police Department says, "We’ve won the war and back to business as usual," then you will see [crime] bump up again," Walker said. "If they keep working on it, you will probably see it going down." Information for this report was contributed by Brandon Tubbs of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
This story was published Monday, February 14, 2005
Copyright © 2005, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.
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