Eddie A. Perez

Mayor

 

Sarah Barr, Director of Communications

 

THE REAL STORY ON HARTFORD CRIME:  IT IS DOWN

 

-----FOR YOUR INFORMATION-----

 

(November 27, 2006)--- Contrary to a Friday’s article in the Hartford Courant (which had to run a correction in Saturday’s edition), Hartford’s crime rate is going down, not up.  The article entitled “Violence Merits Closer Look” showed numbers that were downright wrong, claiming that crime was up 11.8 percent for the week ending November 4th, when in fact crime went down 4.2% for that time period and continues to go down to this very day.  It is important to send out this statement because this article was used as the foundation for other news stories.

 

Here are the real numbers for that time period:

Murder:                        down 4.8%

Rape:                            down 22.8%

Robbery:                       up 15.9%

Aggravated Assault:      up 11.7%

Burglary:                       down 19.6%      (not included in the article)

Larceny:                       down 3.3%       (not included in the article)

Auto Theft:                   down 7.4%       (not included in the article)

Totals:                         down 4.2%

 

And there were more inaccuracies.  For example: the comparison made between 2004 and 2005.  The murder rate in 2004 was 17 and it went up to 25 in 2005.  However, if you look at the five-year trend, the numbers are not out of the ordinary.

2005:  25

2004:  17

2003:  44 (Nursing home fire)

2002:  26

2001:  26

Add to this the fact that serious crime was down more than 12% in 2005 compared to 2004 with 1559 fewer victims of serious crimes.

 

Mayor Perez says, “Our Neighborhood Policing Plan is making positive strides and under my administration, the size of the Hartford Police Department has increased by 36%.  That translates to 152 officers being hired since 2003 making the force 424 strong.  While the HPD has retrieved 456 illegal guns this year alone so far (compared to 349 last year), we still have challenges in this area, especially keeping these weapons out of the hands of our young people.  I am working closely with Mayors across the country to find new and innovative ways of addressing this issue.  Hartford is not alone when it comes to the growing concern of gun violence; this is a national issue that needs immediate attention from all levels of government and community.”