|
In this issue of American Police Beat you can find an article about the fact that crime decreased in all categories in 2010 based on numbers submitted to the FBI by local law enforcement agencies. If you live in Vallejo, California; Trenton, New Jersey; or Lawrence Massachusetts; the good news on decreasing rates of crime might be hard to believe. That's because while crime is down nationally, in some jurisdictions where police layoffs have been severe crime is actually up.
In Lawrence, Massachusetts budget cuts recently forced the police department to shed 41 positions. Chief John Romero tried to warn lawmakers of the consequences those layoffs would have in terms of public safety.
"I can tell you that we cannot hold crime down and maintain a high quality of life in the city with this reduction in officers,'' he told city officials at a budget meeting. "This is a recipe for increased crime and violence.''
And when you're right, you're right.
In Lawrence, major crime has surged by roughly 50 percent in the 13 months since the layoffs, according to the department's latest statistics. Aggravated assaults rose by 57 percent from the previous year, and robberies increased by 27 percent. Property crime exploded also. The number of auto thefts in Lawrence after the cops got pink slips nearly doubled.
The layoffs eviscerated the department's specialized units, including those assigned to gangs and drugs. With the force reduced by more than 25 percent, officers from all units were shifted to patrol as they have been in other cities across the country
"Those units don't exist anymore,'' Romero told the Boston Globe in a recent interview.
The drastic rise in crime is of obvious concern to Lawrence residents who say their neighborhoods are much more dangerous now than they were just a couple years back.
"People are scared and concerned,'' Dan Rivera, a city councilor told the Globe's Peter Schworm.
"It has a real-life impact, and people want us to fix it.''
The crime spike is putting pressure on the city's mayor, William Lantigua.
Lantigua, like a lot of mayors and governors these days, has what might be described as a contentious relationship with the police department. Like residents, police have not been pleased with the way the mayor's gone about eliminating public safety positions.
And the "balance the budget first and let's worry about crime later," approach so in vogue in city halls and state houses across the USA appears to be creating something of a backlash for politicians.
"It is imperative that we restore our public safety officials, but also critical that we monitor and forecast the financial future,'' he said. "We don't want to bring officers back with high expectations and then face layoffs next budget season.''
Councilor Rivera said he believed police were doing the best they could with the reduced staffing but he did not indicate he thought police officers were blameless in terms of the layoffs.
He criticized officers and other public workers for rejecting requests to sacrifice some negotiated pay increases to save jobs.
Two years ago, the department had 161 sworn officers. Today, it has 115. By comparison, the comparable Massachusetts cities of Lynn and Quincy had 168 and 201 officers respectively.
Before the layoffs, investigative work and community policing techniques that emphasized violence prevention were credited for a steady drop in crime.
"I hope it gets back to the way it was before,'' Gloria Cosme, a longtime resident told the Globe in an interview.
"But it feels to me like everything has changed.'' Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites        
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed