" We are focused like a laser beam on crime"
- Council Majority Leader Bill Reynolds
Crime in Kingston continues to plummet under the leadership of Mayor Jim Sottile, URGENT and the Kingston Police Department. The number of serious crimes reported in 2007 totaled 766, or 10.3 percent less than the previous year. In 2006, there were 854 serious crimes reported.
The number of reported burglaries went from 138 to 122 from 2006 to 2007, while the number of reported rapes went from 11 to 5.
Robbery reports dipped from 45 in 2006 to 38 in 2007; assault reports were down from 27 to 23; larceny reports declined from 608 to 551; and reports of motor vehicle slipped up from 24 to 26.
15 comments:
Hey that's great, in fact SUPER and I'm really happy and proud for the city and it's citizens. And thanks to the Mayor, council, and police for good work.
Now I'm an insomniac and I just woke up with the number 43 running in my mind. 43, 43, oh yeah, 43 million. The amount of the Jail Over Budget, and now I hear we can't fill it and want to rent space. How about filling it with the scamming scoundrals who built it. I know some neo-con is going to tell me to GET OVER IT. Funny that never happens when I owe the govt $43.00 let alone the taxpayers being left with this tab.
Get real folks , we can't even find nine grand to run a public access channel.
I've got to get back to bed and try to get some rem sleep and a unreal nightmare, this is why I live in and love cartoons.
Shrek
Jeremy,
You have to take this with a grain of salt. I live in midtown, and when I moved here in 2003, I'd pick up the phone when I heard gunshots. Now, I don't. I think we might be deadened to it. The key statistic here is reported crime. Do I feel safer in my neighborhood than I did when I moved in? No. My wife is searching for lodging for our family anywhere else despite our inability to afford it. Is there less crime in Kingston? I don't believe so. Are we jaded by the crime we see? Yes, and so much so, we don't even think about it, except to try to leave.
How much of this do you think is due to reducing charges - at the onset - and/or accepting plea bargains that reduce felonies to misdemeanors? Its great if crime is really down... But is this really (at least in part) a manipulation of the system and the resultant stats?
Well they can put all the stats out there they want....I know what I see driving through midtown kingston. Notably, they do not include shots fired, or felony drug cases in their statistics...which would appear to be on the uprise, especially in midtown.
I want to know when Richie Cahill
and Company are going to have a
'Safe Street' Rally?
He never answers my email's
43? Wasn't that the ultimate answer from hitchhikers guide to the galaxy?
Not on Foxhall Avenue after Happy Hour! I said stay off of the sidewalk jimmy
9:24-Plea bargaining was not being done yet in '06. Maybe if it's done effectively to get the higher ups that are running the crime, you'll see a reduction in violent drug and prostitution crime at the end of this year. It was obvious last summer when I looked at your city that these criminal enterprises were being tolerated and not dismantled. I think the loss of a liquor business should be followed by a reduction in retail low level sales as well.
Back in the early 1990s plea bargaining was being utilized... [in regard to all sorts of predators] so I don't quite get the last post (?)
And I don't think the big money swindlers (exploitation in the millions and billions) should get off any easier - OR go to Fed prisons versus state...
My only sense of empathy in the crime department is for those that have been subjected to draconian drug laws and high consequences for petty (true misdemeanors) stuff.
Vice rules, actually. The whole legal system needs to be re-evaluated and overhauled, with those that commit "crimes against humanity," whether physical, sexual, or high level corruption (talking millions, billions and such) given a serious (but still humane) "vacation" from the community.
3:39- In the summer of '07 it came to my astonishment that plea bargaining was not being used to get to the organizational level of the street crime. The "kingpins" as petty as they are, were protected by this, while street level runners were sent away. It was pretty obvious by just taking a few strolls down Broadway. I took issue with this failure by informing the democratic nominee, as well as other local and state politicians, that the DA's office was not functioning properly. I have no problem with your assertion that vice needs to be redefined and that only serious crimes be felonies. But those that prey upon the vices of others should feel the heat for the degradation of your town's quality of life. Including the purveyors of alcohol. Simply draining a few thousand dollars from crackheads (and drunks)in profit,leaves the taxpayers with tens of thousands in repercussions.
Crime is down so they say......
Yet all we ever hear anymore is about the gunshots, stabbing, rapes, robbery and domestic disputes and how our police force cannot handle it all. Please tell us which one is the truth.
In one article we see how so many police offices are making ridiculous amounts of overtime and are overworked, and then the next day we are told how crime is dropping. What the hell are all of these officers doing then?
Ever hear the saying "figures dont lie, liars figure?"
Seems like some liars and thier figures are trying to sell someone something. I for one am not buying into this crud!
This whole city is a hole anymore, flooded with undesireables and thier way of life. Jimmy and the gang put on the blinders and act like its not happening and tell all the fools who will listen what a great job they are doing, and the Jeremy blabers of the world go spred the word because they are blind too. If this city's crime is down, how come we arent flooded with businesses and middle class families looking to live in a great small city? Please Jeremy tell me why Kingston is such a great place and where do you go to feel proud around here.
6:40 am. I "think" I'm in agreement with what you are saying, albeit still somewhat confused.
Any way ya' look at it, things are NOT working, as is --- and if the stats aren't being stacked to look good whilst the facts are saying otherwise --- then I guess, as the saying goes, "the one-eyed man is king."
Frankly, even as someone that dealt with the system from the prosecution end (advocating for a victim) --- broke is still broke.
The only good thing we have going here, from my perspective, is the Crime Victim's Assistance program, and even that could be (when one looks at what is set up in some other counties) improved upon.
'Tis a sad state of affairs. It really is.
Any reports of reductions in crime are good news. Kudos to Chief Keller and the Kingston P.D. on another solid step in the right direction.
Of course, we must take all statistics with a grain of salt; considering their sources and factors, like reported vs. committed crime.
Oddly, when I tried to call attention to domestic violence, sex crimes and other non-street crime, I was told that gangs and violent crimes were rising out of control, particularly in Kingston.
Was it rising or falling in 2007? That doesn't matter much if you or a loved one were the victim, but it makes a difference in the way we digest the comments of our public officials.
This particular statistic has little to do with plea bargaining. It does not reflect how the crimes are PROSECUTED, only that they are reported to the police.
[I believe the ultimate answer was "42"]
I am not a Kingston resident, but I say take this positive report and try to build upon it. No matter the relative numbers, there will always plenty of crime. It is only one factor effecting your quality of life. Focus on what your community needs, even in the absence of crime. THAT will increase your strength as a community.
Just my two cents.
Jon Sennett
Well yes, reported crime versus that which is not reported:
KPD has not historically taken certain crime seriously--ie, that which is committed on properties which are politically protected. That is, public housing BY employees of public housing against tenants of such. Residents have, I am also convinced, simply stopped reporting many such crimes because they know they will not be investigated by KPD. I am also firmly convinced that if ALL such crime had been reported to the police over the years the stats would clearly be much higher because the perps know they can get away with such behavior with impunity. Any other crime on such property--ie, crime committed by people other than employees-- may be reported or not, depending on the circumstance. I note that Mr. Blaber's photomate Ms. P. sits on that board and has received such reports of employee-perpetrated crime and has done absolutely nothing about it except to make some general statement once on the radio around the time I was making noise(starting 2002 when I was robbed) but nothing of any practical nature as either a legislator or KHA board member. No wonder Steve Fisher(former director of KHA) left in such an environment--I mean since they exhibited no behavior indicating they cared my conclusion is they simply care more about protecting reputations and such at any cost under any circumstance. Under such conditions there will certainly never exist a culture which sets firmly against crime no matter what the source on such properties. There is no other place--other than on television--where the police would have such a narrow pool of suspects and stand there and do absolutely nothing. Andy Griffith comes to mind on the old show bearing his name--if he thought that by so doing would enhance the greater good. This is somewhat worse than the town drunk however. KHA attorney Zweben behaves only like an attack dog in such issues and I have the correspondence from him to prove it.
In such a culture one cannot foresee the situation improving nor folks believing that there is fairness truly attempted in such a situation. If and when folks decide to start paying more attention to the facts instead of who they are protecting and the politics of the situation, then you start to have hope for something better. And if Charlie Landi wishes to grant me Satan's horns in a photo as a result, I say bring on the photog and Landi--and I'll be happy to tell off J.P. as well if you bring her--certainly if I can be "Satan," I might as well be seen with one of my angels. I will tell her off today AND the day I officially turn a Senior Citizen. ; - )
Yes, Mr. Sennett--prevention can be done. It takes those who sit in high positions to care more. Hasn't happened yet. May never happen. I bet that's what riled G.Webb perhaps more than anything. And while accusations which seem to inflate the situation beyond reality can clearly occur, the same thing is true in that such a situation does not bode well for the overall picture in case violent crimes uptick at some point and then we can trace some of that back to the fact that nonviolent crimes were accepted. Obviously when you send the message to a certain group of people that you can rob and nothing will happen to you, the entire system could break down as a result of such favored status.
Hmm, caring more.. isn't that why Sottile took such an aggressive approach to Mr. Sennett? I think maybe he cared more about preserving the status quo on the streets.
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