Report: Crime down compared to same time frame in 2015

At the city’s Aug. 15 Public Safety Committee meeting, Police Chief Tim Ross presented a mid-year report on certain types of crimes.

Ross said he typically doesn’t provide this type of report, which compares data from the first six months of 2016 to the same time frame in 2015.

“I just got curious to track our progress on our most common types of crime,” Ross said.

Of the crimes he tracked, which are among the most frequent reported in cities, all have decreased compared to 2015.

Burglary is down 22 percent; automobile theft down 16 percent; robbery down 37 percent; and vehicle burglary down 20 percent. Ross said traffic stops have risen by 5 percent and traffic citations increased 22 percent.

Ross said both the crime decrease and the citation increase are partly due to the 10 new officers who were hired in 2016.

“So we’ve got more people out there,” he said.

Other factors that have impacted that data include the introduction of PredPol, a predictive software that uses data to show where crimes are more likely to happen next, and the rollout of the single-use plan for police vehicles.

The single-use plan gives every officer their own vehicle instead of sharing them between shifts. Ross said this increases visibility because officers are no longer spending time at the station waiting for their predecessor to finish paperwork and hand over the car keys.

“It practically puts twice as many cars on the street three different times a day: at shift change,” Ross said.

The public safety committee also sent out alcohol license requests for the City Council to approve: Fred’s Store at 234 Green Springs Highway; Mi Pueblo Supermarket at 216 Green Springs Highway; and a manufacture license for Red Hills Brewery.

They also recommended a three-way stop sign on Broadway Street at Gianmarco’s and three streetlights on Shades Road, which will operate at a cost of $420.12.