A couple weeks ago I posted about the Hartford Police Departments outdated information on its website. Last Friday I received a call from Nancy Mulroy the "webmaster" for the site. She had explained that they were transitioning from older design software to newer software and the process had lagged.
After the posting and dealing with MHIS, Mulroy told me that she insisted that the new website go "live" immediately to correct the problem and start providing current information.
After checking today, the Crime statistics are current and up to date. The stats also paint an interesting picture overall that in almost every category, except for aggravated assault, crime is down in the City compared to last year.
It is also important to note that according to the stats the Northeast section of the City is showing some good reductions in what traditionally is Hartford's "high-crime" areas. Almost every category of serious crime is showing large decreases in the Northeast section.
Southeast is also showing some large decreases in overall crime with sizable reductions over last years numbers. One area that Southeast isn't showing decreases is in the number of Motor Vehicle stops taking place. I am a strong believer that active motor vehicle enforcement reduces overall crime. First off is the visible police presence as they conduct traffic stops. Second is the number of contacts that result in the discovery of guns and weapons in the vehicles, persons wanted for more serious crimes and even drugs.
As most criminal activity doesn't like to be detected by the persons committing them, knowing that there chances of being stopped and detected makes a difference.
To view the HPD website and the current crime stats, click here
On the last page of the report is "police activity by area". The last column, "10-34's" is the column for traffic stop activity and is shown by neighborhood. As you can see, Barry Square leads the city for the current weeks report. More traffic stops were made in the Barry Square neighborhood than were made in other total districts.
It seems like a relatively small matter, but the Southeast's traffic enforcement could be one reason for it's impressive crime reduction numbers.
Yeah, OK, it's the 10-34's. Or it is how crimes are being classified to help lower the crime statistics... You would laugh if you knew how many crimes occur that dont make this statistical count. For example....
ReplyDeleteLets say a suspect gets in a car accident, causing serious injury to a young child. To avoid getting arrested he runs away, during his escape he randomly punches a lady in the face, as she falls to the ground, he spits on her and kicks her in the ribs. Then he smashes out her window of her house with a rock, and slashes her tires. Then he grabs the lady in her private area and runs away before the cops get there. Guess what none of these actions would ever be counted as a crime. By the standards used to track crime numbers in Hartford, that incident does not even register. It never happened, and you never find out about it. Stats can tell many tales...
Anywho... Southeast still has the highest amount of part one crimes city wide. 10-34's are a good start, but hard working cops taking any action is the long term solution.