Violent crime drops

SPRINGFIELD - Violent crime in Springfield dropped 9 percent overall from June to August compared to the previous summers, with police saying their focus on robberies during this usually busy period prompted an 18 percent reduction in that category.

An increased police presence and a move toward assigning the same officers to the same geographic areas to instill accountability were cited for the crime reduction.

Police Commissioner Edward A. Flynn, who took over the department in mid-March, said on Monday that he was neither declaring victory nor trumpeting his role. But he said the decrease in crime was positive news important to note in the city's ongoing recovery and the community's morale.

He praised the work of his officers, particularly the lieutenants in charge of the geographic zones, in cutting crime during the hot and humid months that normally show a spike in violence.

"The cops should feel good about that and the community should feel some optimism that things are moving in the right direction," Flynn said.

"The 'me' part of it is trying to create an environment in which (police) can excel. This isn't me trying to be disingenuous, this isn't me trying to be cute, this isn't me being modest. ... I can't say enough good about it because the enthusiasm I saw (among officers) was real," Flynn said.

The staff at Frigo's Gourmet Foods Catering and Gift Basket on Main Street downtown said they feel safer than a year ago.

"I do. Everybody's going about their business, I think," Frigo's manager Marilyn J. Sullivan said.

Crime is a topic downtown merchants have become used to talking about since the daylight shooting death on Nov. 21 of the owner of a Main Street hair-care supply store.

"I see a lot more cops walking on the street," said Frigo deli clerk Terri Wasiuk. "Every other day (last year) we'd be hearing about a shooting or a stabbing, and now it's less frequent."

Leo Florian, president of the South End Citizens Council, said big changes still are needed, such as reducing housing density, but the perception of public safety has improved in the past year.

"I think we're doing better," Florian said.

Violent crimes are murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults.

There were four murders from June to August compared to one in that period in 2005. So far this year, the city has 11 homicides. There were a total of 18 in 2005.

"I know people are concerned about our homicide rate," Flynn said. "I mean, we're glad we're running behind last year, but given the nature of the phenomenon, I'm not claiming any victories."

Flynn provided a copy of an August study by the Community Research Council, a nonprofit organization based in Chattanooga, Tenn., that showed murders in midsize cities increased more than 22 percent from 2000 to 2005. Poverty and population shifts were among the reasons cited.

Such cities have populations of 100,000 to 300,000, with Springfield's at about 152,000.

Also, while the number of aggravated assaults dropped here between the recent summers, they remained numerous. A big reason why such crimes are elusive to police is they occur between people who know each other, Flynn said.

"And that's a tough nut to crack," he said.

But street crime such as robberies was an area in which police felt they could make a change, and robberies dropped from 201 in summer 2005 to 165 this year, he said.

"It appears to have borne fruit. That's important for people to know," Flynn said.

A shift in strategy helped in the form of an increase in the number of "park and walks" police did. That's when officers on cruiser patrol park the car and walk a route to establish a presence.

Police did 264 "park and walks" in 2005 and 1,680 this year, said Jennifer Flagg, Flynn's chief of staff.

"The significance in the drop in robberies is that there's been a targeted strategy to stop that," Flagg said.