Crime Decline Continues

New Haven’s police brass took a victory lap Thursday to celebrate the seventh year of decreased crime in the city.

Police Chief Anthony Campbell said despite a shrinking rank and file and three years without a new contract, officers are on the job and crime, particularly violent crimes like murder and non-fatal shootings, continue to remain low or trend down.

He said that during the department’s annual press event at 1 Union Ave. Thursday to share the previous year’s crime statistics.

“The 400 men and women of this department have delivered on the promise to serve and to protect with integrity, pride, and the acknowledgment of the humanity which binds us all together,” Campbell said. ​“On many of these charts, you’ll see a significant drop in our crime — not just violent crime but quality of life crimes including robberies and burglary are down.”

Campbell said the stats show that the work of protecting the community is being done even though the department is not fully staffed.

“These officers come out and do their job no matter what,” he said. ​“When you walk around this city, you can feel the change.”

Homicides in 2018 rose to 10 from 2017’s seven; Campbell pointed out that they were nowhere near what they were in 2011 at 34 and gang violence plagued the city. Three of the 2018 homicides were domestic violence related; two were deemed self-defense. He said those homicides highlighted the need for the city to further establish a family violence justice center.

The number of non-fatal shooting victims was down to 50 at the end of 2018 — the lowest it has been in the last 15 years, according to statistics provided by the police department. That number also is the lowest it has been since the department started keeping such records, Campbell said.

Mayor Toni Harp said public safety has improved from when she attended the funeral of a city teen killed by gun violence during the first month of her first term in office.

Such deaths ​“were all too common at that time,” she said. But she said today the Elm City is a ​“much improved New Haven, much safer New Haven that is much better equipped to squash the scourge of gun violence.”

Both Campbell and Harp credited the collaborative efforts of initiatives like YouthStat, Project Longevity, along with partnerships with neighborhood groups, clergy, and other law enforcement officials.

Certain neighborhoods like Westville and Downtown have seen an uptick in property crime particularly motor vehicle theft and larceny from a vehicle. which has seen an increase citywide of nearly 4 percent and 10.2 percent respectively. Campbell attributed the increase particularly when it comes to motor vehicles to a change in the law that affects how the police handle juveniles.

He said officers are often arresting the same juvenile offender or groups of offenders for stolen cars and car break-ins. He also noted that surrounding towns are seeing the same kinds of property crimes being committed by the same age group.

“They’re not detained or charged in the same way that they were in the past,” he said. Campbell said the crimes are often the kinds that teens as young as 14 commits to ​“see what you can away with.”

He called for the state to dial back the penalties and not incarcerate young people and possibly expose them to a harder criminal element. He said the department has been working with its partners to reach parents and through YouthStat to identify these young people when apprehended as at-risk and get them other supports. He said that works 40 – 50 percent of the time. But there are outliers.

“We can’t do much about that but there is one thing: they’re all aging,” he said. ​“They all know they’re approaching an age where they will be considered an adult. Also, legislation is thinking about changes that could add back that layer of accountability.”

Looking Within

While domestic violence has played a role in the small increase in homicides in 2018, it also has been a point of internal reflection within the department.

After a spate of high profile arrests of police officers for domestic violence, Campbell said the department is working with the Employee Assistance Program to develop a program that all officers will go through on the issue. He also said that he and Fire Chief John Alston Jr. are working with Mayor Harp to further address domestic violence with the rank and file in both departments.

“These types of jobs are very stressful and they can take a toll on families,” he said. ​“We want to provide outlets and tools for both fire and police so they don’t wind up in a situation where they are arrested and compromising the relationships that we have with the community because that’s what it does.

“People say we should be held to a higher standard, we should know better and they’re right,” Campbell added.

Click the play button below to watch the press conference.