June 23, 2004
Tampa crime is “up” - it must be budget time!
In March, Tampa Police touted new crime statistics that the department said showed crime falling in Tampa.
"I'm very proud," Tampa police Chief Stephen Hogue said of the overall decrease. "It's a combination of efforts. It's the high visibility of police officers, working in conjunction with detectives. It is also a function of the courts putting (offenders) in jail."
BlogWood readers might remember this reaction to the crime rate figures at that time:
...crime rate statistics are laughably manipulable. It behooves cities and states to report lower crime rates and therefore appear safe to potential visitors. Florida happens to be a tourist state, and is therefore extremely sensitive about these numbers. Also, rates often “coincidentally” go up when law enforcement is fighting hard for budget increases - higher crime rates tend to lead politicians to throw money at the “problem”.Once the money is allocated, crime rates invariably go down, and people who don’t really understand what is going on buy into the statistical lies and trumpet higher law enforcement budgets, tougher penalties, and increased incarceration rates as the cure to all evil.
Now, we get this from today’s Tribune:
``Tampa has an inordinately high crime rate,'' Hogue said. ``We're done making excuses. We've got to bring the crime rate down.''The chief said Tuesday he wasn't trying to use statistics as ``a scare tactic'' to win support for his budget plans. He said the crime rankings shouldn't have surprised Tampa City Council members.
It was news to Councilwoman Rose Ferlita, chairwoman of the city's public safety committee, though.
``Wow, man,'' Ferlita said. ``I was taken aback. ... If you didn't have the ear of the people who will [decide] the budget, that certainly makes them pay attention.''
......
A key budget proposal calls for $4.3 million to build a police headquarters in east Tampa.
The building would serve police working in District 3, created in January as part of a redeployment aimed at improving service in the area, which includes east Tampa, Ybor City and the Channel District.
Reassigning officers was intended to improve productivity. Arrests have increased 25 percent, and traffic citations are up 67 percent this year, Hogue said.
Police reported in February that the city's numbers of violent and nonviolent crime dropped 3.4 percent in 2003.
A crackdown continues on drug sales in east Tampa, initiated after Iorio took office in April 2003, Hogue said.
``Street-level narcotics activity is what ruins a city,'' he said.
Ranking No. 1 in property crime and No. 2 in violent crime hurts the city as well, council Chairwoman Gwen Miller said.
``That's bad,'' Miller said of the statistics she heard from the chief Monday. ``We can't bring people into town if they read that.''
Don’t worry - crime will come back down as soon as this year’s budget is done. Then we’ll all be much safer.
Posted by Norwood at June 23, 2004 07:51 AM