City of New Haven
City officials that crime in the Elm City is trending in the right direction and has fallen dramatically from where it was just five years ago.
With officials from the police department and local pastors flanking her, Mayor Toni Harp announce the news at a press event held Wednesday at City Hall.
Markeshia Ricks
Harp: Crime is headed in the right direction.
The number of homicides in the city has fallen from a high of 34 in 2011 to a low of 15 last year. The numbers of nonfatal shootings are down from 133 in 2011 to 63 in 2015, and the number of gunshots fired in the city has fallen dramatically from 426 to 91 last year.
Chief Dean Esserman said crime is down not only in every category, but in every neighborhood in the city.
“No matter how you say it, ” Harp said, “crime rates are lower in New Haven, and all those who work, study and visit here are safer as a result.”
Esserman: Crime down in every neighborhood.
Esserman attributed the reduction in crime over the last few years to several initiatives that the city has tackled simultaneously, including the return of police walking beats during their first year as new cops; a sustained commitment from local clergy; the integration of other policing agencies and social service organizations working more collaboratively as a task force; Project Longevity; and the city’s continued commitment to hire more police officers. Harp added a mention of the city’s Youth Stat program, which identifies youth who are at risk of being injured or killed by gun violence, then enlists teachers, administrators, probation officers, and cops to strategize on how to steer them straight..
The chief said he sees these reduced numbers as the beginning of a continued decline in crime.
“We do not intend to rest on our laurels,” he said. “Crime is down in every neighborhood, in every category, every year. And we’re only beginning because I can hear the mayor whispering in my ear every morning, ‘Keep it going.’”
Despite a last-minute $8 million hole in the city budget for the coming fiscal year, Harp vowed to keep the commitment to continue hiring officers. There is a recruit class planned for the end of the year, and she hopes to seat more classes in the future. “When we have fewer police it costs us more money,” she said. “And they’re actually not as effective as they can be if we have a full complement of police. We’re still working to get there.”
Dawson.
Anthony Dawson, chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners, said the drop in crime shows that the work that has been done in partnership with the community is making a difference. “We really want to make sure that we are one of the best police departments in the nation in terms of community-based policing and we are working toward that,” he said.
Newman
The Rev. James Newman, president of the Greater New Haven Clergy Association, said said getting to this point with crime in the city has “been a long, hard job,” but he was grateful that crime is down and encouraged people to keep supporting the work so that next time such an announcement is made the numbers could be even better.
I am a huge fan of New Haven style community policing, which (almost always) treats folks fairly and makes a commitment to our communities, while also focusing on hard crime numbers ("compstat" style). Despite what some say in other cities, New Haven proves that smart and thorough enforcement can also be fair and humane.