Warren sees 4.8 percent drop in violent crimes, rise in rapes and crashes

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

Warren’s 2015 crime statistics show one of the smallest numbers of homicides in a decade and a drop in robberies and break-ins compared with 2014 but an increase in reported rapes and car crashes.

Violent crimes – murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault – declined 4.8 percent. Aggravated assault was relatively unchanged.

Homicides dropped dramatically from eight in 2014 to four in 2015.

Two of the four homicides last year involved a man and woman who had been romantically linked, and police said a boy, 3, died at the hands of his mother’s boyfriend. The fourth homicide involved a man who died of gunshots, possibly exchanged with another man, who also was hit.

Warren Police Chief Eric Merkel said the lower homicide rate and drop in robberies and break-ins may be attributed to the Ohio Attorney General’s Safe Streets Initiative that began in Trumbull County in late 2013.

The program involves letting those people in Warren committing serious crimes know that the police know who they are by inviting them to a meeting at the courthouse. The Attorney General’s Office drew up the list.

“We’re constantly looking at that list because they are the most likely to be involved in gun crime, whether as a suspect or as a victim,” Merkel said. “It’s working.”

Merkel said research has indicated that a program like Safe Streets tells offenders what will happen to them if they continue their ways.

“A lot of the shooters and gangbangers don’t know the ramifications of their actions, but when you bring in a federal prosecutor, an emergency room doctor, family members of victims, to tell them what happens because of their actions, it makes an impact,

“The statistics show they don’t know how much time they can get for the crimes they are committing,” Merkel said. “They saw a 30 percent to 40 percent reduction in violent crime in some cities,” Merkel said of the program.

There also has been one recent “call-in” for Warren juvenile offenders.

“We hope it can kind of wake them up if they are on the road to nowhere,” Merkel said.

Merkel said the steady increase in rape reports since 2012 is perhaps because there have been more disclosures by juveniles after they have been assaulted and greater confidence the police will handle it.

Detective Nick Carney has indicated that there is an increase in touching offenses, called sexual imposition, and more complaints regarding unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, Merkel said.

“It’s never good to have more sexual assaults, but it’s good more people are coming forward and reporting it,” Merkel said.

The number of traffic crashes in the city rose by 83 percent between 2014 and 2015.

Police personnel seemed surprised by the increase and were unable to give a reason for it, though they speculated it could be because of an increase in distracted driving.

Between 2014 and 2015, the number of crashes involving distracted drivers rose 11 percent, according to Lt. Brian Holt of the Southington Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

One category of distraction is use of cellphones. Any use of a cellphone while driving is illegal in Ohio for drivers under age 18. Texting while driving is illegal for all drivers as a secondary offense, meaning officers cannot pull adults over based solely on suspicions of texting while driving.