New Haven Independent

At a press conference Monday, top city officials released the year’s third quarterly crime statistics, which compare the first nine months of 2006 to the first nine months of 2005.

Officers have recovered 191 guns — 17 percent more than last year at this time. But younger kids are still getting better access to more powerful guns, said Police Chief Cisco Ortiz (pictured above). That’s part of why the city’s seeing a troubling spike in homicides.

Homicides have shot up by 50 percent: There’ve been 18 so far this year, up from 12 at this point last year, and 15 total in 2005. Officials said the crimes echo a nationwide trend of surging gun violence among youth.

“We certainly recognize that violence is increasing, and of particular concern to all of is the age of the victims of our shootings in New Haven, as well as the age of the victims in our homicides. Also just as troubling is the age of the offenders,” said Ortiz. Compared to last year, “The ages have dropped, and that’s what concerns us.”

Most recent stats show decreases in most categories. Though it may not feel like it, robbery and aggravated assault are down slightly, by 1 and 2 percent respectively. Shootings are down 11 percent, said Ortiz. Larcenies fell by 9 percent; Motor vehicle theft fell by 17 percent.

In addition to homicides, two other categories saw increases: Rape is up 2 percent, and burglaries are up 5 percent.

In the short term, Ortiz said the department has been able to quell violence in August and September, saving the city from the crime spike usually seen nationwide during those months. Answering a call for more community policing, the department has been pouring resources — to the tune of $200,000 per week — into overtime pay to accommodate extra walking beats.

In the bigger picture, the city’s crime rate has been chopped in half since 1990, before community policing arrived.

But the city’s now seeing that federal support that helped make community policing possible crumbling. The federal Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program funneled $3.3 million into New Haven in the ’90s, funding the construction of neighborhood substations and allowing the city to hire 45 new officers. That funding has disappeared, city officials said.

A recent department personnel analysis showed no misallocation of — just a lack of — resources, said Chief Adminstrative Officer John Buturla. The department, like many across the U.S., now has a shortfall in cops. The roughly 400-member department is down 20 officers, seven sergeants, nine lieutenants and five captains. Officials hope to seat a new class of 40 to 45 recruits in late January.

In the meantime, efforts are focusing on how to keep guns out of the hands of kids. Whereas before, kids were typically caught with 9 mm guns, they’ve upgraded to .45 caliber pistols, said Ortiz.

To stop the flow of guns into teens’ hands, Ortiz hopes to launch a gun sting operation using federal funds through the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The ATF recently funded a similar program in Waterbury in partnership with the state’s attorney’s office and U.S. attorney’s office. Under that program, cooperating witnesses made undercover gun buys then helped police track down dealers.

Ortiz also hopes a new state gun docket, which aims to speed up gun cases through court, will help get offenders off the streets. As it stands, “I think it’s a joke to be arrested with a gun in this state,” said the chief, saying some criminals are on the streets for two years until gun charges are processed.

To prevent youth from falling into patterns of crime, the city’s also working with the Yale Child Study Center, as they have been for 15 years. YCS and cops make lists of at-risk youth and create strategic plans tailored to each person to connect them with social services.

Officials also praised the mayor’s Youth at Work summer jobs program, which employed 1,000 teens, and open schools program, which served 500 teens, as examples of a city focus on at-risk youth.

Mayor John DeStefano, Jr., who has been criss-crossing the state running for governor, was absent from the press conference.