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This Paper '
Falling crime statistic deceptive
By Marius Meland
Opgor' Dimy fmanna
Eugene's crime rate is down
(rojn lost year, but police (.loun
the statistics are deceptive and
want more officers to handle seri
ous and Increasingly violent
crimes.
"In the last 10 years, the nature
of crime has changed in Eugene,"
police Ll. Vic Mann said "Soci
etal change and drug use hove
brought aiiout big-city problems
that aren't reflected by the
absolute numbers of the crime
rate Meanwhile, the number of
officers has been reduced."
According to statistics released
by the Eugene Department of
Public .Safety, the number of
reported crimes has been
reduced by 10 percent since last
year The crime rate in Eugene is
now at its lowest point since
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Hut these numbers don't
mean much." Mann said. "To
understand what's going on in
Eugene, you have to go out in the
streets and observe for yourself.
You have to see dilapidating
neighborhoods, dnig deals in the
streets, and kids being knifed
down."
To meet what they sec as an
aggravation in the nature of
crime, the Eugene police now
want to increase the number of
officers after a decade of cuts in
staffing Monti is in charge of
writing a request for a federal
grant that would give Eugene
nine of the fit),1)00 additional
police officers that President Hill
Clinton has promised to put on
the stn*et.
The number of sworn police
officers in Eugene has dropped
from tf>l in lftfll to 147 last year,
Eugene now has 1.25 officers per
1,000 citizens, considerably low
er than the Oregon municipal
average of 1.56 and the national
average of 2.2.
Noil-sworn civilians called
community service specialists
have taken over some of the
duties previously handled by
police officers in a money-saving
measure In a plan to use more
community resources, public
safety also coojientlos with White
Hird's CAHOOTS van, which
takes (.are of people who are
severely intoxicated or undergo
ing a mental crisis.
"Our budget has increased dur
ing the past years, hut less mon
ey has been allocated to police
staffing." finance manager Car
ol Calkins said. "By employing
more community service spe
cialists. we've tried to save mon
ey. increase productivity ami free
officers to do more major police
work "
But police say that although
these workers have relieved them
of some minor police work and
routine paper work, they have not
compensated for the increased
pressure.
"We're losing ground when it
comes to responding to calls."
Public Information Director Tim
Birr said. "In 1981. we respond
ed to 55.000 tails. last year, with
considerably fewer officers on the
staff, we had to respond to as
many as 80.000 calls."
Birr believes the apparent drop
in the crime rate tan he attributed
to the incapacity to respond to
the increase in tails
"Basically, fewer officers
means fewor crimes are being
reported,” he said "The best way
to attain a zero crime rate would
be to shut down the police sta
tion."
Mann said the police have
stopped registering some crimes
because of understaffing.
"For instance, we don’t inves
tigate hid checks and minor fraud
any longer.” he said. "That means
that such crimes don't show up
in the crime rate.”
Mann said the police need
more research to understand the
relation between the crime rate
and actual crime.
"There’s a difference between
the crime rate and the victimiza
tion rate." he said "The victim
ization rate measures the number
of victims of crime, regardless of
whether they reported the crime
to the police."
The proposal to increase the
number of police officers is part
of a long-term strategy of creat
ing a more pro-active police forte
through "community policing."
"Right now. police work has
become increasingly reactive,"
Birr said. "The rate of officer-ini
tiated activities is down to an all
time low of 4 percent. Officers are
bouncing around from call to call,
applying band-aid to immediate
problems, taking little time to talk
to citizens.”
Leonard Cooke, Eugene’s
police chief, has indicated that
he believes community polii ing
is the way to meet the changing
nature of crime in Eugene.
"We do need more officers."
Cooke recently said ill a speech
to Eugene’s Kiwanis Club. "We
need officers who have the skills
to work with citizens and com
munity groups to develop cre
ative solutions."
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