Crime is down in Niagara Falls during the first eight months of 2009.
But not by much.
In the words of Falls police Superintendent John Chella, Cataract City cops have been on a “roller coaster ride” in fighting crime this year. The city’s top cop says everything from falling copper prices to the release and arrest of various criminals has impacted the efforts of police.
“In 2008, copper thefts killed us,” Chella said. “But car break-ins were down because a lot of our perpetrators were in jail. This year, copper went down in price and the perps got out and we got slammed with car break-ins. There’s always a situation you gotta deal with.”
Crime statistics given to the state Department of Criminal Justice Services last week show that year to date, so-called Tier 1 crimes, are down .03 percent. Tier 1 crimes include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.
Despite a better than 14 percent drop in robberies, overall violent crime is up so far this year, 2.6 percent. Rapes are up just over 6 percent, while violent assaults, many tied to domestic violence, have climbed better than 8 percent.
Overall property crimes are down 0.02 percent, led by an almost 34 percent drop in stolen cars. However, a dramatic spike in thefts from cars over the summer months has pushed larcenies up by 6.5 percent.
Thefts from cars appear to be spiking again, according to a look at recent police reports.
“In 2007, we had a great year and (overall) crime was down 7.5 percent,” Chella said. “In 2008, we were up 4 percent. We’re told the state 2007 was a year we can try to match, but we’ll take the difference between 2007 and 2008 to measure 2009. We’ve declined (through the end of August) and we’re confident September numbers (when they are available) we be even better.”
Chella said he has been most encouraged by declines in the numbers of robberies and burglaries, disappointed with higher numbers of assaults and thefts.
“I’m not painting a rosy picture,” he said, “We’ve got our challenges. We’re doing better but not as well as I hoped.”
Chella said targeted details that led to several arrests are having an impact on car break-ins and those numbers are coming down. He said he believed continued aggressive intervention in domestic violence cases would bring the number of assaults down as well.
Summing it all up Chella said, “We need to reduce the number of assaults, we need to continue the (recent) decline in auto break-ins.”
Crime
NIAGARA FALLS: Crime down slightly in ’09
Police hope slight decline continues for remainder of the year
- Crime
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Korean student robbed at gunpoint in Falls
Detectives are investigating the robbery of a 25-year-old woman Wednesday night in front of a motel in the 400 block of Main Street.
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Bomb threat leads to arrest at NT school
A North Tonawanda teen was arrested Thursday morning for sending a one-sentence bomb threat to the computer of a fellow high school student, resulting in a brief lockdown of the school.
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BLOTTER: Police reports published May 25
Police are investigating a burglary in the 400 block of 24th Street.
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Fugitive in meth case caught
Moments after Falls police narcotics detectives and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents uncovered a clandestine meth lab in the city's Echota neightborhood, their prime suspect sent a cryptic text message to Detective Joe Palmero.
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BLOTTER: Police reports published May 24
A Youngstown woman was arrested after a domestic incident in the 200 block of 61st Street at 4:45 a.m. Tuesday.
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FIRE CALLS: Niagara Falls fire reports published May 24
For the period of May 7 to 13 the Niagara Falls Fire Department responded to 105 calls. The total number of service calls for 2012 to date is 2,084.
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Falls cops target crack dealers
As Eric Nelson sat on the front porch of 533 18th St. on Thursday night with a pocket full of crack cocaine, he was probably waiting for his best customers to roll on up.
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Falls man finds out there are no free meals
A Falls man was arrested after a waitress at a downtown restaurant told police she tracked him down after he skipped out on his bill.
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Overheated extension cord believed to be cause of blaze
Fire investigators believe an overheated extension cord sparked a blaze that drove six people out of a 23rd Street home late Monday.
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BLOTTER: Police reports published May 23
A Falls man called police after he said another man threatened his 17-year-old son with a semi-automatic pistol while his son was walking on the 6900 block of Edison Avenue.
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