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Crimes decline in 2009
Crimes decline in 2009SFlb
Police data show decreases in murder, theft and auto theft.
YOUNGSTOWN — Despite a slight uptick in certain crimes, the city’s police chief said most illegal activities in Youngstown declined in 2009.
Statistics for the first three quarters of 2009 in the city, the most recent statistics available, show a decrease in murder, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.
Those same statistics show an increase in rape, robbery, felonious assault and burglary.
The police department did supply year-end totals for homicides in the city. There were 28 homicides in the city in 2008, and 23 for this year as of Wednesday.
Mayor Jay Williams said he is pleased the homicide rate continues to fall, and he wants to see that trend continue. He pointed out the city had 39 homicides in 2007.
“I would credit the men and women of our safety forces and the work of our block watches who are more engaged in continuing this [downward] trend,” the mayor said Wednesday night.
“We still have a lot of work ahead of us. But we made a commitment to increase safety in the city, and we’ve done some of that,” he said, adding that he is looking for an increase in prevention measures to make an even larger dent in decreasing crime.
Police Chief Jimmy Hughes said the decrease in murders in the city is part of a trend he hopes will continue into the future with continued police initiatives.
“I wish I could say it is solely suppression and all the preventive efforts we are doing, but it takes a cycle of its own,” the chief said. “We will not eliminate murders, but we will decrease to a respectable number at the rate we are going. I have been told that for a city of our size six is a reasonable number to expect.”
There have been 23 homicides in the city this year, compared to 28 in 2008.
Hughes believes a lot of the younger males involved in violent crimes leading to murder are “waking up” and stepping away from such activity.
He said that trend with young people combined with various law enforcement efforts and arrests will help ensure a continual decrease in the city’s murder rate.
The chief said some of those crimes — rape, robbery and burglary — that showed an increase in the first three quarters of 2009 may show the beginnings of a reduction in the fourth quarter of this year. He said early statistics for some of those crimes, such as burglary, show a spike in activity for a particular time of the year.
“We had a bad June, July and August with houses being broken into more. Since that time we have implemented a lot of initiatives and put some of the responsible individuals in jail. Hopefully, we can keep them there,” Hughes said.
Hughes said the economy can play a key role for some of those responsible for committing crime.
“Times get hard, and people resort to these types of things [robberies, thefts] more than they normally would, but we will keep pounding at it and get the message out there that these activities will not be tolerated,” he said.
One thing the police chief, and police officers at large, are happy to see is the increased input from members of the community.
Hughes said the department’s ability to get a handle on burglaries in the last quarter of the year and other crimes was largely because of input and assistance from the public.
He said many people in the community have showed a greater willingness to come forward and work with police to solve crimes throughout the city.
“I look forward to that continuing,” Hughes added.
jgoodwin@vindy.com