Allen American > News
Crime in city down for 2007
By Troy Brakefield, Staff Writer
Numbers released this month show crime citywide fell in most categories for 2007.
According to a March 5 memo sent to City Manager Peter Vargas by Chief Bill Rushing, major crimes such as murder, robbery, forcible rape, assault, burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft dropped by 2.5 percent to 2,295 from 2,353 in 2006. When the city’s population increase was factored in, the percentage decrease was 9.34.
Minor crimes saw a slight increase from 2,365 to 2,434 incidents when compared to last year’s raw numbers. But according to the memo, a closer look at the data showed 30.8 incidents per 1,000 residents in 2006 versus 29.29 per 1,000 residents in 2007. This meant with increases in population included, minor crimes fell by 5 percent.
Burglaries of motor vehicles dropped by 230 compared to the previous year, down more than 30 percent. Criminal mischief also saw a significant decrease, as there were 126 fewer cases reported in 2007 as opposed to 2006.
Criminal mischief also dropped: in 2006, there were 500. In 2007, only 374 cases were reported.
Allen Police Department Public Information Officer Sgt. Jon Felty said the reduced crime is the result of better awareness of people’s surroundings.
“Neighborhood watches and our citizen education on removing items from vehicles has helped a lot,” he said, adding that the methods were part of many strategies used by the department.
One of those included targeted patrols, which also were credited as impacting may be part of the reason for reduction in crime in some areas. Direct patrols, or when officers are instructed to step up their patrols or presence in certain areas that may have experienced recent criminal activity, increased more than 21 percent in 2007.
Part of citizen involvement includes Citizens on Patrol and neighborhood watches. Currently, 38 neighborhood watch groups help keep an eye on community streets, a number that has been fairly steady for the past few years, Felty said.
One of the few increases came in burglaries of homes, which increased 20.3 percent, jumping from 173 two years ago to 231 last year. Felty said several homes were robbed of appliances just before new owners were scheduled to move in. He also said many incidents occurred as a result of garage doors left open.
“We want people to remember, ‘Please close your garage doors. If you’re not there in the garage, there’s no one protecting it from [things] being stolen,” he said.
The Allen Police Department had traditionally used the Uniform Crime Report to calculate crime statistics and supply data to the FBI. The UCR categorized incidents into Part I Crimes, which includes major offenses, and Part II Crimes, which are minor crimes such as forgery, ATM fraud, disorderly conduct, driving while intoxicated, drug violations, identification theft, vandalism and liquor or weapon law violations.
The department switched this year to using the Texas Incident Based Report System, which features a better detailed system for categorizing crimes not tracked by UCR.
“The UCR categorizes only what’s important to the FBI. The other goes into greater detail and gives us better analysis of what’s going on in our department,” Felty said.
Contact Troy Brakefield at tbrakefield@acnpapers.com
According to a March 5 memo sent to City Manager Peter Vargas by Chief Bill Rushing, major crimes such as murder, robbery, forcible rape, assault, burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft dropped by 2.5 percent to 2,295 from 2,353 in 2006. When the city’s population increase was factored in, the percentage decrease was 9.34.
Minor crimes saw a slight increase from 2,365 to 2,434 incidents when compared to last year’s raw numbers. But according to the memo, a closer look at the data showed 30.8 incidents per 1,000 residents in 2006 versus 29.29 per 1,000 residents in 2007. This meant with increases in population included, minor crimes fell by 5 percent.
Burglaries of motor vehicles dropped by 230 compared to the previous year, down more than 30 percent. Criminal mischief also saw a significant decrease, as there were 126 fewer cases reported in 2007 as opposed to 2006.
Criminal mischief also dropped: in 2006, there were 500. In 2007, only 374 cases were reported.
Allen Police Department Public Information Officer Sgt. Jon Felty said the reduced crime is the result of better awareness of people’s surroundings.
“Neighborhood watches and our citizen education on removing items from vehicles has helped a lot,” he said, adding that the methods were part of many strategies used by the department.
One of those included targeted patrols, which also were credited as impacting may be part of the reason for reduction in crime in some areas. Direct patrols, or when officers are instructed to step up their patrols or presence in certain areas that may have experienced recent criminal activity, increased more than 21 percent in 2007.
Part of citizen involvement includes Citizens on Patrol and neighborhood watches. Currently, 38 neighborhood watch groups help keep an eye on community streets, a number that has been fairly steady for the past few years, Felty said.
One of the few increases came in burglaries of homes, which increased 20.3 percent, jumping from 173 two years ago to 231 last year. Felty said several homes were robbed of appliances just before new owners were scheduled to move in. He also said many incidents occurred as a result of garage doors left open.
“We want people to remember, ‘Please close your garage doors. If you’re not there in the garage, there’s no one protecting it from [things] being stolen,” he said.
The Allen Police Department had traditionally used the Uniform Crime Report to calculate crime statistics and supply data to the FBI. The UCR categorized incidents into Part I Crimes, which includes major offenses, and Part II Crimes, which are minor crimes such as forgery, ATM fraud, disorderly conduct, driving while intoxicated, drug violations, identification theft, vandalism and liquor or weapon law violations.
The department switched this year to using the Texas Incident Based Report System, which features a better detailed system for categorizing crimes not tracked by UCR.
“The UCR categorizes only what’s important to the FBI. The other goes into greater detail and gives us better analysis of what’s going on in our department,” Felty said.
Contact Troy Brakefield at tbrakefield@acnpapers.com
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