Sunday, July 20, 2008

CRIME DOWN 28% UNDER KELLER/SOTTILE


"We are cautiously optimistic that we can either continue this pattern or at least keep the serious crime near it's current level."

- Kingston Police Chief Keller

Crime continues to plummet in Kingston under the leadership of Kingston Mayor Jim Sottile and Kingston police chief Jerry Keller.

There were 264 reports of serious crimes in Kingston between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2008, a decrease of 28.8 percent from the same period in 2007, when there were 371 serious crimes reported.

Obviously, Chief Keller and everyone else would like the numbers to be lower, but a 28% decrease shows how serious the current administration and the Kingston Police Department are handling crime in Kingston.

I think Sheriff Paul Van Blarum, Lt. Tim Matthews and URGENT also deserve a good deal of credit for this, it's a team effort.

* There were no homicides in the first half of 2008 in Kingston, compared to one during the first half of 2007.

* There were three rape reports in the first half of each year.

* Reported burglaries fell from 63 in the first half of 2007 to 45 in the first half of this year.

* Robbery reports dropped from 23 to 15.

* Aggravated assault reports declined from 12 to six.

* Reported larcenies decreased from 254 in the first of 2007 to 183 in the same period this year.

* Reports of vehicle thefts fell from 15 to 12.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Blaber:

You used to lead the Freeman - now your copying it?

Anonymous said...

As long as the statistics are controlled by the same folks who do the reporting they are meaningless. PD controls how an incdient is written up, adminstrators guide them towards reporting the incident in a way that futhers the perception that things are improving.

URGENT makes big splashy arrests of groups of low level users and small time dealers, they pump up their statistics and maximize the press coverage. Track down how many actual convictions result from those high profile arrests and what the convictions are for. Me thinks you would be surprised to learn that there is little impact on the high end of the business.

It is all a PR game.

Ask the people who live in mid-town whether things are significantly better. Whatever answers they give, positive or negative, are more credible that agency controlled statistics.

Jeremy Blaber said...

9:09 AM: I must be slipping.

Anonymous said...

I never saw a city announce that crime is up.All these years its been going down it should be at ZERO. Think

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised you are not telling us that if Keller supported Sennett that crime would be even lower.

Anonymous said...

Holley Carnright must be doing a good job sending the message that crime will not be tolerated in Ulster County. If you do the crime, you'll do the time. Holley is a great DA.

I hope that under the "new Blaber" Fair and Balanced, that you will post this.

Jeremy Blaber said...

6:31 PM If Sennett would of won, crime would be down drasticly all over the county because we would be getting to the root cause of crime in Ulster County. As for Keller, I'm pretty sure he supported Sennett for DA... I'm not 100% sure, we don't talk about his postions on races like Sheriff or DA becasue he has to work with whoever gets elected. Although, I do know he had nothing but positive things to say about Jonathan.

And, to be honest this is the last comment I will publish about Sennett or Bradley, the race is over and we need to move on. This does no good for anyone.

8:15 PM : Of course I will publish your comments. You are entitled to your opinion...I disagree.:) In all seriousness, I like Holley and have nothing against him. I don't know him that well but we have always been very respectful to one another. I think he's a nice guy. I really have not been following too closely his job as DA.

Anonymous said...

Lets Give our Law Enforcement Agencies and/or Officials a little more credit where credit is due..These agencies are doing a fine job with the resources they have available! KEY WORD RESOURCES. Question, why doesn't anyone leave their names??

Mike Madsen said...

Can you imagine these daily commenters leaving names? They would have to be proud of their opinion and defend it in public. That won't happen any time soon.

Anonymous said...

Leaving names would reduce the effectiveness of the comments. Then you knuckleheads would soon realize that too many strategies,methods, and the key words describing them were all coming from the same source. I feel quite comfortable with my success in anonymity. Please elaborate on the "resources" issue.

Anonymous said...

Lets not forget all of the community youth programs that are designed to deter youth from criminal behavior. I wonder what the decrease is among youth crime? The Kingston Hoops Summer Sizzle Basketball League started in July 2006. In 2008, we have over 220 kids playing thanks to Mayor Sottile, the city council and Community Block Grant committee.

It would be interesting to see what the data is regarding youth crimes, particularly during the afterschool and summer periods.

Also other organizations such as the Everette Hodge Center, Kingston Cares and the Boys & Girls Club play a huge role with the Kingston area youth that are at risk as well.

All of these organizations work with the police to foster a positive relationship between law enforcement and the community.

Charlene L. LaDay-Hill
League Coordinator
Kingston Hoops Summer Sizzle Basketball League

Jeremy Blaber said...

Ms. Hill:

That's a great program and I think it has a very positive effect. I think part of the problem is between 3-5, these kids have nothing to do.

-JKB

Anonymous said...

On Wednesday August 6th at 11:55am I was on Broadway by Thomas street stopped in traffic and the driver of the car in front of me littered - he threw an empty cigarette pack out his car window.

His license plate was EGX8299 and the car said model said Intrigue.

Go get him!