I had the opportunity to sit down with
Chief McKenna earlier today to review our 2016 semi-annual crime statistics. I
know this is a much talked about area of both concern and interest for our
neighborhood and as such wanted to get this information out as soon as it was made
available. We attempted to get this
together for you last week, but hurricane Matthew had other ideas and came close
enough to delay our attempt.
But luckily we avoided the worst of it and I
wanted to express my thanks to our Chief for getting these numbers together for
us all to review.
So, without further to-do, let’s now get into it-
FULL YEAR
|
1st 6 months
|
FULL YEAR
|
1st 6 months
|
||
2015
|
2016 (estimated)
|
2016
|
2015 (actual)
|
||
Population
|
3,147
|
3,147
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
Crime Index
|
65
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
Calculated by State
|
|
Index Change
|
80.6
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
Calculated by State
|
|
Murder
|
0
|
0
|
n/a
|
0
|
|
Rape
|
0
|
0
|
n/a
|
0
|
|
Robbery
|
3
|
1*
|
n/a
|
0
|
|
Aggravated Assault
|
0
|
0
|
n/a
|
0
|
|
Burglary
|
19
|
10*
|
n/a
|
16
|
|
Larceny
|
42
|
21*
|
n/a
|
27
|
|
Motor Vehicle Theft
|
1
|
0*
|
n/a
|
0
|
|
Crime Rate
|
2,065.50
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
Calculated by State
|
|
% rate Change
|
80.2
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
Calculated by State
|
|
% Cleared
|
1.5
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
Calculated by State
|
Total= 65 32 (estimated) 43
For our general discussion purposes here,
the “good news” is that we are currently slightly under last year’s actual crime
totals for the first 6 months of 2016. It also identifies that our “types” of
crimes are similar to those from previous years. I asked the Chief if he had
the additional crime numbers (since the end of June) and he mentioned that he
does not at this time.
I started keeping an unofficial record
on the blog (posted under the Crime Watch
Meeting from 7/17/16) and will keep all new reported crime events listed
there. I will admit that this effort didn’t fully start until September- so the
information for July and August is spotty and probably somewhat incomplete. That
said, here’s what we do have to add to the semi-annual crime numbers:
July: (1) residential
burglary. A rear window was broken in to gain entrance.
August: (3) 2 residential burglaries- 1 broken into and 1 gained
entry through an UNLOCKED WINDOW. - 1 burglary to
a vehicle
September: (8) 2 stolen cars,
both UNLOCKED. (both cars have since been
recovered in North Miami)- 1 stolen motorcycle- 1 stolen tires and rims off a
car- and 5 burglaries to cars - ALL 5 CARS WERE UNLOCKED.
October: (2) 1 arrested juvenile suspected for breaking into several cars in
our community- 1 BURGLARY ARREST/ of what turned out to be the burglary of a
residence on NE 11th Place.
So, this brings our
unofficial estimated year-to-date crime total to 46 events.
People of BP…do you see a
trend here?
What is it going to take
for everyone to understand that WE ALL MUST
LOCK OUR DOORS AND WINDOWS- and not just sometimes, BUT ALL OF THE TIME! Houses, cars, boats, it doesn’t matter. Just LOCK EM UP.
I know that Crime Watch
has pleaded with you. I know that our Chief has pleaded with you… repeatedly. Now I am also pleading with you to be
responsible enough to understand that by not LOCKING YOUR DOORS AND WINDOWS you
are putting out the Welcome Mat and inviting criminal activity into our Village.
And not just for yourselves… but for ALL of us.
This request is not some
violation of your rights, but basic common sense based on the type and number of
crime events happening within our community. We all need to both help ourselves
and our police department by reducing the number of easy “crimes of opportunity.”
Got it? Get it? Good… rant is now over.
I sincerely hope that in
six months’ time when we next review our crime stats I won’t have to report the
same number of unnecessary crime events based on UNLOCKED CARS or HOMES.
Until we meet again-
Standing Watch,
Milton Hunter
The Biscayne Parker
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