City statistics show a 13% drop in overall crime from 2006 to ’07

Residents are concerned about burglaries and
robberies.

YOUNGSTOWN — Compared with 2006, more people were killed last year in the city, but fewer were robbed, assaulted or suffered burglaries.

Overall, crime decreased 13 percent in 2007.

Some credit the drop to the mayor’s “zero tolerance” program that put extra officers on the streets. The temporary Special Interdiction Patrols began after a quadruple homicide on the South Side on Jan. 29. The homicide toll for the year was 39, up from 32 in 2006.

“Looking back over the entire year, I think we got a delay benefit from SIP — people loved the patrols and would like to see them again,” said Patrolman Bill Ward, who attends many South Side block watch meetings to hear residents’ concerns. “Cruisers were everywhere and it put a monkey wrench into the criminal element.”

Patrolman James Welch attends North and West Side block watch meetings, and Patrolman Ron Jones attends East Side meetings.

Ward said residents in stable neighborhoods, particularly senior citizens, are not concerned about homicide but do worry about burglaries and robberies. He said residents also voice concern for abandoned houses and rental properties with unsavory people living in them.

Vacant houses, he said, often lead to bigger things, with police finding drugs and fugitives wanted on warrants.

“I tell [residents] to call police if they see a suspicious car or person,” Ward said. “We have to put resources into big crimes but concerns of the public at large is degradation of neighborhoods.”

Ward said curfew violations are a big complaint at block watch meetings. To curb juvenile delinquency, police began doing truancy and curfew sweeps this month.

“It’s wonderful that crime dropped but not if the murder rate goes up. The core of everything is drugs,” said Maggy Lorenzi, a member of the Southern Block Watch. “I would disagree that SIP was effective; it was mostly traffic violations and it was sporadic. I think ‘zero tolerance’ had minimal effect.”

Lorenzi said crime will go down with concentrated, sustained efforts more so than temporary overtime programs that put extra officers on the streets.

The return of Crime Stoppers, (330) 746-CLUE, which offers rewards for anonymous tips, is a good thing, Lorenzi said. Some people, she said, are reluctant to report criminal activity, and they’re fearful for their lives.

Joyce Davidson, director of the North Side Know Your Neighbor Block Watch, said the truancy/curfew sweeps may help reduce crime this year.

“When we meet, we discuss what’s going on in the neighborhood and we tell police what we know,” Davidson said. “We are supposed to be the eyes and ears for police.”

The zero-tolerance approach, she said, could be partly responsible for reducing crime last year, as well as the Weed and Seed program now on the North Side.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony last summer, the mayor said safety and quality of life are the priorities of the Weed and Seed police substation at 976 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The program was made possible with a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Weed and Seed is a two-pronged approach in high-crime target areas. The strategy involves weeding out criminals and drug abusers and then seeding in services to restore neighborhoods.