Monday, May 14, 2007
Crime stats, and reality
There's some interesting dialogue going back and forth about the latest crime statistics. I wanted to share some of the emails to get your thoughts, and keep you up to date.
You'll find the dialogue in the emails below. Even below those, in different postings, you'll find postings that quote news accounts and police numbers.
The earlier blog postings sort of frame what follows; this is what gadfly /watchdog Dennis Haugen had to say on his email list:
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Dennis Haugen"
Subject: Of course, crime is down if police don't take the reports
Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 16:40:36 -0700
Walter
As a Council person you have obviously ignored claims that police might not be taking some crime reports
It is easy to reduce crime if police take fewer reports. Before you start bragging about lower crime in Lakewood, it would be wise to have the police crime reporting system independently investigated. There are a lot of voters who think crime is increasing in Lakewood.
Dennis Haugen
We all have our issues, and with Dennis, you have to look past the claims of grand conspiracy and identify the real question: namely, is Lakewood taking proper police reports? I was concerned to hear from one local businessperson who thinks not. More on that in a sec. This is what I wrote back to Dennis:
Thanks for your feedback, Dennis. We all talk to people who tell us different and contradictory things; that's where numbers help. I don't agree with an independent investigation at this point; you and I both know that if the investigation said the police had done a good job, you would accuse the auditors of having been co-opted or corrupted. That's your role as a watchdog, and I am glad you are there to keep people on edge, but it doesn't necessarily help move things along. I'd argue that we are first at the point where we need statistics.
This is how it is supposed to work when it comes to an allegation like yours...: If you know of someone who says a report should have been taken, but was not, then either you or they should fill out the online complaint form via the city web page or the link below in my email. Or have the person contact me. I don't have direct information that police are ignoring crime, but I am always willing to listen. If I hear of one or two incidents, it sounds like one or two mistakes; if a bunch of incidents are reported, then it sounds like a trend. Either way, action is appropriate. We need specifics, and the value of the online complain monitoring system is that it will generate both specifics and trends.
Now, this is what I heard from the Lakewood businessperson, who wishes to be anonymous. I removed identifying details, and anything in parenthesis is a summary:
I've lived in Pierce County for (a lot of) years and Lakewood for (a lot of)years. In the past (several) months our house has been burglarized (several times) times. (I initially blamed myself for not keeping the house more secure, but finally called police) The officer said if I wasn't going to report it to my insurance company, she wasn't going to take a report ... Anyway, she was quite indifferent and obviously wasn't interested wasting her time taking my report. (and then there were comments about the personal impacts of crime)
I don't think that this police department is going to announce or admit that
they don't take reports for crimes that folks like me want reported. ...
The police should at least ask to take a report. Let me decide how important
it is. My experience leads me to believe that the police department must
"pick and choose" which crimes they keep track of and which ones they don't
report so they can say that crime is down.
The author wants to be anonymous, and I respect that, but of course you can see that I can't really chase down what seems to have gone wrong in his case. Here's part of what I wrote back, with identifying details removed ...
My problem with Dennis' central thesis is that cops are not always trying to prove crime is down. In fact, if you can prove crime is up, you can ask for more resources. It's funny, but since I am running (for re-election) on a platform of 'more police officers,' it would 'help' me (speaking strictly from political perspective since obviously we don't want crime) if crime was up. I am going to make a lot out of the fact that gang violence means violent crime is a growing problem. Again, strictly from a political perspective, a campaign does not care whether crime is up or not - you just react to what you hope are the right statistics, which is of course now the issue.
I had a funny experience back in Salinas that may or may not shed light on where people come from. When I worked at the daily paper there, a lot of the Latino leaders started demanding our newspaper stop saying there were a lot of crimes in East Salinas (where a lot of Latinos lived). They claimed that constant references to crime and East Salinas were giving the community a bad name. We went back and forth. Then, there was a vote whether to put a police substation in East Salinas, which the leaders wanted, and it lost. So then the leaders came to us and asked us the paper to make a special point to print when crimes happened in East Salinas! They changed positions, made a lot of noise about how much crime there was, and got their substation.
Anyway, it sounds like you had a horrible customer service experience. I'm sorry for that, and it would bug the heck out of me if it had happened to me. My mother-in-law on Wildaire has neighbors who had a home burglary, and it really changed them. It's one reason I make a fuss about property crime, because you are right, property crime is also person crime.
The reason I have been printing the online link to City Hall in my last couple newsletters is that there now is a way to report a problem. When you report the problem, it creates a monitoring number so you can check on the status of your query. This tool, which Tacoma also recently started, should if it works right revolutionize our ability to 'de-bug' city hall.
I really wish I could ask about your situation, because it is certainly possible Dennis is right and there is some odd policy or some messed-up person that is changing how they take reports. But I respect and appreciate your right to be anonymous! You can understand, though, that it means Dennis will use your example loudly and that police will not be able to check on what happened so people disinclined to listen to Dennis will not be moved. Again, it's totally your right, but that is the likely outcome. Anyway, I take your comments to heart -
OK - What do you think? Let me know.
Forward this post
You'll find the dialogue in the emails below. Even below those, in different postings, you'll find postings that quote news accounts and police numbers.
The earlier blog postings sort of frame what follows; this is what gadfly /watchdog Dennis Haugen had to say on his email list:
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Dennis Haugen"
Subject: Of course, crime is down if police don't take the reports
Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 16:40:36 -0700
Walter
As a Council person you have obviously ignored claims that police might not be taking some crime reports
It is easy to reduce crime if police take fewer reports. Before you start bragging about lower crime in Lakewood, it would be wise to have the police crime reporting system independently investigated. There are a lot of voters who think crime is increasing in Lakewood.
Dennis Haugen
We all have our issues, and with Dennis, you have to look past the claims of grand conspiracy and identify the real question: namely, is Lakewood taking proper police reports? I was concerned to hear from one local businessperson who thinks not. More on that in a sec. This is what I wrote back to Dennis:
Thanks for your feedback, Dennis. We all talk to people who tell us different and contradictory things; that's where numbers help. I don't agree with an independent investigation at this point; you and I both know that if the investigation said the police had done a good job, you would accuse the auditors of having been co-opted or corrupted. That's your role as a watchdog, and I am glad you are there to keep people on edge, but it doesn't necessarily help move things along. I'd argue that we are first at the point where we need statistics.
This is how it is supposed to work when it comes to an allegation like yours...: If you know of someone who says a report should have been taken, but was not, then either you or they should fill out the online complaint form via the city web page or the link below in my email. Or have the person contact me. I don't have direct information that police are ignoring crime, but I am always willing to listen. If I hear of one or two incidents, it sounds like one or two mistakes; if a bunch of incidents are reported, then it sounds like a trend. Either way, action is appropriate. We need specifics, and the value of the online complain monitoring system is that it will generate both specifics and trends.
Now, this is what I heard from the Lakewood businessperson, who wishes to be anonymous. I removed identifying details, and anything in parenthesis is a summary:
I've lived in Pierce County for (a lot of) years and Lakewood for (a lot of)years. In the past (several) months our house has been burglarized (several times) times. (I initially blamed myself for not keeping the house more secure, but finally called police) The officer said if I wasn't going to report it to my insurance company, she wasn't going to take a report ... Anyway, she was quite indifferent and obviously wasn't interested wasting her time taking my report. (and then there were comments about the personal impacts of crime)
I don't think that this police department is going to announce or admit that
they don't take reports for crimes that folks like me want reported. ...
The police should at least ask to take a report. Let me decide how important
it is. My experience leads me to believe that the police department must
"pick and choose" which crimes they keep track of and which ones they don't
report so they can say that crime is down.
The author wants to be anonymous, and I respect that, but of course you can see that I can't really chase down what seems to have gone wrong in his case. Here's part of what I wrote back, with identifying details removed ...
My problem with Dennis' central thesis is that cops are not always trying to prove crime is down. In fact, if you can prove crime is up, you can ask for more resources. It's funny, but since I am running (for re-election) on a platform of 'more police officers,' it would 'help' me (speaking strictly from political perspective since obviously we don't want crime) if crime was up. I am going to make a lot out of the fact that gang violence means violent crime is a growing problem. Again, strictly from a political perspective, a campaign does not care whether crime is up or not - you just react to what you hope are the right statistics, which is of course now the issue.
I had a funny experience back in Salinas that may or may not shed light on where people come from. When I worked at the daily paper there, a lot of the Latino leaders started demanding our newspaper stop saying there were a lot of crimes in East Salinas (where a lot of Latinos lived). They claimed that constant references to crime and East Salinas were giving the community a bad name. We went back and forth. Then, there was a vote whether to put a police substation in East Salinas, which the leaders wanted, and it lost. So then the leaders came to us and asked us the paper to make a special point to print when crimes happened in East Salinas! They changed positions, made a lot of noise about how much crime there was, and got their substation.
Anyway, it sounds like you had a horrible customer service experience. I'm sorry for that, and it would bug the heck out of me if it had happened to me. My mother-in-law on Wildaire has neighbors who had a home burglary, and it really changed them. It's one reason I make a fuss about property crime, because you are right, property crime is also person crime.
The reason I have been printing the online link to City Hall in my last couple newsletters is that there now is a way to report a problem. When you report the problem, it creates a monitoring number so you can check on the status of your query. This tool, which Tacoma also recently started, should if it works right revolutionize our ability to 'de-bug' city hall.
I really wish I could ask about your situation, because it is certainly possible Dennis is right and there is some odd policy or some messed-up person that is changing how they take reports. But I respect and appreciate your right to be anonymous! You can understand, though, that it means Dennis will use your example loudly and that police will not be able to check on what happened so people disinclined to listen to Dennis will not be moved. Again, it's totally your right, but that is the likely outcome. Anyway, I take your comments to heart -
OK - What do you think? Let me know.
