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Flynn says Springfield crime incidences down

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



SPRINGFIELD Police Commissioner Edward Flynn met with members of the City Council at its Health and Public Safety Committee on Thursday and brought welcome news: the incidences of many types of crime in the city are less than last year.

Flynn credited the decrease came from the hard work of the officers who "this summer really came through" even though the patrolmen were working without a contract.

With a package of information he gave to the councilors, Flynn discussed statistics that indicated there was a nine percent decrease in violent crime in the city this summer as compared to the summer of 2005.

Although 911 calls concerning guns increased from 146 in 2005 to 153 in 2006, the "shot fired" calls decreased from 333 in 2005 to 248 in 2006.

Street robberies, which Flynn described as an important yardstick to measure effectiveness went from 201 in 2005 to 165 in 2006.

In the period from June 11 to Aug. 25, there was a 16 percent decline in robbery and a four percent decline in aggravated assault. There was an additional murder during the summer of 2006 from the summer of 2005, although at this point year-to-date the city has had fewer murders from last year.

Motor vehicle theft did rise 12 percent this summer and Flynn said that those figures including "nitwit on nitwit crimes," such as people who know each other who hijack or steal a car out of revenge and "crack rentals" in which people lend someone a car as part of a drug payment and then report the car stolen.

Statistics for the month of September show an overall 13 percent drop when compared to last year. Murder, rape, robbery, burglary, larcenies are all down.

Increased foot patrols and requiring officers to leave their cruisers to walk around an area have helped increase public confidence, Flynn said.

Flynn said the special help the city was receiving from a State Police unit has ended as the funding to pay for that detail has run out. Funding may return in the future, but in the meantime "We're going to be okay," he said.

Flynn said the Department is analyzing up-coming vacancies in order to assess training and hiring needs. The Department is in the process of buying 78 new cruisers. Flynn said that 80 percent of the Department's fleet has more than 100,000 miles.

Flynn and his administrative aide Jennifer Flag discussed the installation of cameras that would monitor high crime areas. Flag said the installation of the eight cameras is still "weeks away." The locations of the cameras will not be shared with the public, she added.

Representatives from several city neighborhoods also attended the meeting and confirmed the progress that has been made.

Omega Johnson, president of the Old Hill Neighborhood Council said the news was a "step in the right direction and is better than no step at all."

Arelys Diaz of the Avalon Crime Watch said that she has seen a difference in her area.

"We still have a lot of problems, but we see progress," she said.