Violent crime up in July


A report issued by the Henderson Police Department for July showed that Part I violent crime totals for the month of July were 25, up from five in July of 2005.

These include one forcible rape, twelve robberies, and twelve aggravated assaults. Last July saw only two robberies and three aggravated assaults.

This brings the tally of Part I violent crimes to 105 for 2006 so far, compared to 80 for all of 2005, for a change of 23.8%.

However, Part I property crimes were down by eleven for July of 2006 for a net loss for the year of 16.3% between 2005 and 2006 to date.

These crimes include burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft.

The total crime index is still down by 12.4% for 2006 from last year.

Part II offenses were down by fourteen for July with a net change of -31 between 2005 and 2006.

The documents pertaining to the crime statistics may be reviewed here.

During yesterday’s Human Resources Committee meeting, committee member Lynn Harper noted the rise in violent crime. She stated that the candidate for the new police chief should be innovative.

Harper made it clear that her statement was not a reflection on the current Henderson Police Chief Glen Allen.

City Manager Jerry Moss said that a lot of the problems go back to dilapidated houses. He said if the houses could be eliminated, it would help with crime.

Henderson City Council member Elissa Yount, who also attended the meeting, expressed the thought that juvenile crime is a large part of the problem. She said that she would like a new chief with some expertise in that area.

“I know police are not supposed to solve crime, but are supposed to prevent crime,” she said, qualifying her earlier statement.

Harper commented that once juveniles have a felony, they’re “stuck”.

Committee chair Mary Emma Evans stated that crimes against the elderly are going unnoticed. She said that there is a need to concentrate on these. She said that she could not understand why juvenile crime is reported more than [crime against the elderly].

Committee member Lonnie Davis said that this is where collaboration comes in. The city has no juvenile crime prevention program, he informed members, but the county has several.

Moss pointed out that the city is included in the county.

Davis rejoined that the city could collborate if it was not “antagonistic” about becoming involved in some of those things.

Evans opined that the solution to juvenile crime is to prepare a place for young people to go in the city other than Adventure Island or the Skateeum, which cost money. She reiterated her hope that the new chief would be able to help in the area of juvenile crime prevention.

Moss stated a hope that the new police chief would be able to help with police perception in the community. He suggested that perhaps officers could get out of their cars and walk around the neighborhoods and meet the people that they serve.

“We need to concentrate on that a lot,” he said.