Public safety a top priority

Date: 1/19/2009

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



SPRINGFIELD Regardless of the cuts made to the city's state funding by Gov. Deval Patrick, Mayor Domenic Sarno vowed that public safety would continue to be the top priority of his administration.

Sarno made that statement on Wednesday at a press conference in which he and Police Commissioner William Fitchet released the 2008 crime statistics for the city showing considerable progress.

Fitchet said cuts in his budget would be "very troubling," and perhaps could be absorbed by attrition. There are currently 11 vacancies in the department.

He acknowledged there is a likelihood of crime increasing in the city due to the poor economy.

In 2008, robbery was down 23 percent and burglary was decreased two percent. Auto theft fell 26 percent, while larceny fell six percent and felony assaults dropped seven percent.

There were 14 homicides in the city last year. Ten of those cases have been cleared by arrest and suspects have been developed in three of the four open homicides. Murder had decreased 30 percent over 2007.

Arrests in the city's schools decreased 23 percent.

In the three police divisions of the city, overall crime dropped 12 percent in the North Division, 13 percent in the South Division and three percent in the Central Division.

The newly reformed street crimes unit arrested 370 criminals, mainly felons, conducted 240 field interviews and took at least six guns off the streets.

Another new police unit, the Special Victims Unit, addressed 3,060 cases of domestic violence, 323 sex crimes (includes rape and indecent assaults) and 115 crimes against the elderly. Fitchet said there had been a 29 percent increase in rape cases in 2008, but he said the spike was due to the inclusion of case referrals from the district attorney's offices and social service agencies that hadn't been counted in the past.

Sarno attributed much of the success not just to collaborations between the Police Department, the Hampden County House of Correction and the District Attorney's Office, but also to "good old fashioned police work."

Despite the good news, Fitchet and Sarno announced a number of new initiatives to help continue the trend.

Fitchet said the city will be divided into nine policing sectors and beginning Feb. 1, and police officers would once again be deployed to specific neighborhoods. Although he wouldn't call the chance a return to the community-policing model the department once used, Fitchet said the smaller areas mean officers could more easily build the relationships that address crime issues.

Each section will have its own Quality of Life Flex Squad officer. The squad would grow from four to nine officers. The additional officers were selected two weeks ago and have been in training.

In 2008, the squad issued 1,150 ordinance violations as compared to 442 violations in 2007. Fitchet said the majority of complaints concerned noise, speeding and other traffic issues. He said the goal of the squad was not merely to write tickets, but rather to work with residents to address complaints. He said the officers in the squad will be walking or biking in their sectors.

Fitchet added the city's policing effort will continue to be led by intelligence and data gathered by officers. He said the city's situation is "ever changing," and officers evaluate information on a daily basis.