Answer is: It depends upon what you look at.
Here are some interesting numbers I ran across about the last year . . .
- In Madison in the preceding 6 month period (July – Dec 2005) there were 213 Robberies. During the last 6 month period (Jan – June 2006) there were 206 Robberies. Are Robberies down?
- In Madison in the preceding 6 month period (July – Dec 2005) there were 220 Aggravated Assaults. During the last 6 month period (Jan – June 2006) there were 212 Aggravated Assaults. Are Aggravated Assaults down?
- In Madison, in the preceding 6 month period (July – Dec 2005) there were 791 Simple Assaults. During the last 6 month period (Jan – June 2006) there were 697 Simple Assaults. Are Simple Assaults down?
Mean while, the police are citing these numbers about all the muggings downtown . . .
- Robberies in the Central district went up from 27 (Jan – June 2005) to 55 (Jan – June 2006) or 103%
- Why aren’t they mentioning the increases in the North and East District where the increase is 180% and 230% respectively, where’s all the concern there?
In the past 15 years we find these relevant statistics
- In 1991 there were 15, 053 Part One Criminal Offenses (Homicide, Forcible Rape, Aggravated Battery, Robbery, Motor Vehicle Theft, Larceny, Arson and Other Assaults including Simple Assualts). That was 7769.9 crimes per 100,000 people.
- In 2005 there were 10,246 Part One Criminal Offenses. That was 4620.8 crimes per 100,000 people.
- Robberies have varied from as little as 125.5 per 100,000 in 1999 to 171.8 per 100,000 in 1997. The average for these years is 144.32 per 100,000 .
Crime is likely to be a hot topic of discussion through the budget and into the mayor’s race. I just hope we can find a way to talk about it that takes into account the facts and the discussion isn’t just based on fear.
