Arrests up sharply in Warren

September 3, 2010 at 12:11a.m.

By ED RUNYAN

WARREN

Warren police made 22 percent more adult arrests and 70 percent more juvenile arrests during the first seven months of 2010 than over the same period in 2009.

Police Chief Tim Bowers said one reason is the Violence Gun Reduction and Intervention Program, which began a campaign this summer to take guns off of Mahoning Valley streets starting early July, caused 300 arrests to be made in Warren in July.

“The 10-hour shifts put more officers on the street during peak activity hours,” Bowers said as another reason arrests have risen. The department switched to the new shifts last fall.

The V-GRIP and Weed and Seed programs also put more officers on the street, giving them more confidence that they would be supplied with backup while they investigated suspicious activity, the chief said. The poor economy probably led to more crimes, he added.

The department has operated through most of 2010 with 61 officers, two fewer than it had for most of 2009. The department returned to 63 officers early this week, when the second of two officers was recalled from layoff with money freed up by Warren City Council.

Statistics compiled by Bowers indicate that the department made 1,995 adult arrests and 233 juvenile arrests in the first seven months of 2010.

They responded to 27,518 incidents this year, or 451 incidents per officer. They responded to 25,718 incidents in 2009 for an average of 408 incidents per officer.

They made 2,550 traffic stops in 2010, compared to 2,010 in 2009, an average of 42 per officer in 2010 compared to 32 in 2009.

It took longer than officials had hoped to bring back the two laid-off officers. In mid-July, City Council transferred $52,900 for salaries and $38,800 for benefits from a health department fund and a police department fund to pay for the two officers for the second half of 2010.

Officer Brian Holmes returned to the department on Tuesday, and officer Thad Stephenson returned a week ago.

The department lost 20 officers to layoff Jan. 1, 2009, due to flat collections of city income tax.

Bowers said he has continued to stress to the city administration that he remains “way short” of the manpower he needs and he hopes money for more officers will be provided in the 2011 budget.

On Tuesday, three officers who worked patrol duties all summer will transfer to their jobs as resource officers for the city school district.

Bowers said he considers that a “wash” as far as manpower is concerned since fewer kids are on the streets causing crime problems when school is in session.

City officials had hoped that the two officers would be back on the job by the end of July.

But that process took six weeks instead of two because several officers didn’t respond immediately to the city’s notification that they were eligible to return to work, Bowers said.