Violent crime declines in city from 2009 rates

Year-to-year trend matches that of U.S.

BY TOM TROY
BLADE STAFF WRITER

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Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre said he was encouraged that trends which began in 2010 have continued this year. THE BLADE Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Toledo, like most of the United States, experienced fewer violent crimes in 2010 than in the previous year, according to the annual crime report from the FBI.

In all, the city had 2,854 violent crimes in 2010, down from 3,251 in 2009 and from 3,621 in 2008.

Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre said the overall crime rate looks good compared with 2009 in part because of the number of burglaries that occurred that year.

“[Two-thousand-nine] was so bad because our burglary rate skyrocketed. That’s the year we laid off 75 police officers May 1, just at the beginning of the summer months, when we need the most police officers,” Chief Navarre said. “When you make decisions, you have consequences.”

The officers were let go to reduce a $21 million budget deficit and were rehired between August and October of that year.

“I’m more encouraged that the trends we saw in 2010 are continuing in 2011,” the chief said, citing the first-quarter reports.

The number of police officers in the city is 561, up from 525 in the summer of 2009.

The chief said the total police force should climb back close to 600 when a class scheduled to be hired in November graduates next May. He said he’s hoping to add another class in 2012 to get the force over 600.

“That’s where we need to be for a city this size,” Chief Navarre said.

A Block Watch captain in South Toledo said that as the crime rate drops, so does interest in Block Watch.

“As far as my neighborhood it’s been pretty safe and quiet, which is why we don’t get a large attendance [at meetings]. But they need to realize that keeping their neighborhood safe is everybody’s job,” said Cheryl Dilbone.

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She also said interest has waned because of the elimination of community service officers who provided updates at Block Watch meetings.

The number of murders declined from 33 in 2009 to 23 in 2010, but still surpassed the 18 murders of 2008.

There were also fewer forcible rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, motor vehicle thefts, and arsons in 2010 than in the previous year.

However, in 2010, there were still more forcible rapes, burglaries, and arsons than in 2008.

Toledo was the only Ohio big city listed in the FBI’s report that experienced a decline in burglaries compared with the previous year.

Columbus was not included in the FBI report.

An FBI official noted the report was preliminary, and he did not know why Columbus was omitted.

In 2009, burglaries shot up in Toledo, to 8,064 from 6,522, whereas the number of burglaries didn’t change much over those two years in the other big cities.

Toledo reported more arsons, 492, than any of the other cities.

Nationally, crime levels fell across the board last year, extending a multiyear downward trend with a 5.5 percent drop in the number of violent crimes in 2010 and a 2.8 percent decline in the number of property crimes, the Associated Press reported.

“In a word, remarkable,” said James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University. In Mr. Fox’s view, the declines signify success for aggressive law enforcement and corrections programs and comprehensive crime prevention efforts. He said the crime levels could easily rise if the current environment of state and local budget cutting extends to law enforcement measures that are working.

Some experts are puzzled.

Expectations that crime would rise in the economic recession have not materialized. The size of the most crime-prone population age groups, from late teens through mid-20s, has remained relatively flat in recent years.

“I have not heard of any good explanations for the good news we’ve been experiencing in 2009 and 2010,” Alfred Blumstein, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School of Public Policy told the AP. “I hope the trend continues, and I’m going to keep searching for answers.”

Violent crime last increased in 2005. Property crime last increased in 2002.

Contract Tom Troy at: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058.

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