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Wednesday, March 24, 2010 {The Blue Banner} Page 7 Police employ unique tactics to reduce crime rates Data analysis and increased patrols lead to violent crime rate reduction By Thomas McLean CAMPUS VOICE EDITOR TJMCLEAN@UNCA.EDU While both national and local crime rates decreased in 2008, it took more than routine police work to help bring the numbers down. “What we’ve found over the years is when you reduce the amount of little disorder-type crime and nuisance-type crime throughout a community, it gener ally has an impact that’s felt all the way across the criminal spectrum where even violent crime is reduced,” said Criminal Investigations Division Capt. Tim Splain of the Asheville Police Department. Nationwide, the number of violent crimes reported for 2008 decreased by almost 2 percent from 2007, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The violent crime rate dropped from roughly 467 per 100,000 inhabitants to about 455 per 100,000 inhabitants. “You're going to find differences here and there, but generally crime has come down. ” -Ed Eads, APD crime analyst Asheville had 30 more violent crimes during the same time period, but had a decrease in the number of murders, from 10 to two, according to the State Bureau of Investigations. Asheville police focus on violent crimes and gun-related crimes in an ef fort to prevent people from using guns in public, according to Splain. “The other part of that is more jurisdic tions do community policing and con centrate more widely on quality of life issues and minor kind of nuisance-type crimes,” he said. “And a lot of arrest work and investigation in that area and our end result is we’re seeing anywhere from 20 percent to a 40 percent reduc tion in firearm-related calls for service, which then also connects to a reduction in people being shot, people being killed and on down the line.” To further help fight crime, the police department’s crime analyst gathers data on reported crime and then the depart ment addresses areas in need of more at tention, according to Splain. “You’re going to find some differences here and there, but generally crime has come down. I think we’re just part of that national trend,” said Ed Eads, the department’s crime analyst. “So people are going out less and there’s less oppor tunity for criminals to steal a pocketbook or that kind of thing.” Unemployment benefits might also contribute to the downturn in crime, ac cording to Eads. “So there’s still a cushion going on, and that’s that people, yeah, they’re out of work, they’re probably staying home more, but they’re also getting funded in some way with the extended benefits,” he said In addition to a lower violent crime rate, the property crime rate also de creased by 1.6 percent nationally, ac- See crime Page 8
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