YOUNGSTOWN Top cop hails zero tolerance

Despite falling crime stats, GRIP is needed to concentrate on hot spots around the city.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Police Chief Robert Bush Jr. says the numbers show that zero tolerance is paying off.
Crime statistics comparing the first six months of this year with last year show drops in violent and property crime.
Total violent crime cases dropped 15.5 percent; total property crime cases dropped 3.5 percent.
Zero tolerance -- persistent patrols and confronting small crimes early -- prevents problems from escalating, Bush said.
Zero tolerance for minor crimes has changed attitudes, and not just among criminals, Bush said.
"That sets the tone, even in the department," he said.
He credits officers who, at his urging, are focusing on minor issues such as open containers and loud music. Officers are paying attention to troublemakers early, writing better reports and helping prosecutions be more successful, Bush said.
"They're aggressive out there," he said. "They should get the credit; they always get the blame. We're getting some bad people off the street."
Bush pointed to one adage in police work, that 20 percent of the criminals commit 80 percent of the crimes. Getting such people off the streets drops crime, he said. For example, one arrest in February encompassed dozens of burglaries in Struthers, Campbell, Boardman, Youngstown, Hubbard and Poland.
"If you pick them off, they will feel the heat," he said.
The statistics don't include an effort launched July 3 called the Gun Reduction Interdiction Project.
The plan involves focusing on the city's highest crime areas, particularly on guns, and using the federal courts and their stiffer sentences to prosecute offenders.
Despite this year's falling crime stats, GRIP is needed to concentrate on cleaning up a half-dozen or so hot spots around the city, Bush said.
GRIP also is using the zero tolerance approach in those areas, so Bush expects to see the number of crimes drop the second half of the year, too.
That's no guarantee the next six months will bring lower numbers compared with last year, however. July, August and into September typically are the city's most violent and criminally active months. More people stay outside, gather and sometimes turn violent.
Bush acknowledged he can't promise the crime drop will continue the rest of the year. Nonetheless, a good first half and the results of GRIP should be seen in year-end statistics and comparisons, he said.
For now, Bush is happy.
"It's an excellent snapshot of where we are presently," he said.