May 6, 2008
NEWS ANALYSIS: Warm Weather Means More Crime
Will the Summer of 2008 be another Season of Mean Huntington Streets?
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) -- Hot weathers equals hot tempers.
And, for whatever reason, the dripping sweat and sweltering humidity spurs increases in crime, not just in Huntington, but nationwide.
Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook stated, “Any time the weather improves, it causes people to go out.”
Law enforcement officials and academic professors have braced for a 2008 summer spike in neighboring Ohio. Why? Tougher economic times. Amidst the lazy, hazy summer nights, choices for young people narrow, particularly with the cost of a gallon of gas panting to break the $4.00 barrier in this mostly rural state with limited public transportation. Less teen cruising may seem beneficial, but not if that has them milling around streets and sidewalks near their homes adding to the numbers of drug users, drug dealers and prostitutes present.
Bruce Weinberg, an Ohio State University economist, has found that the drop in wages and rising unemployment rates ignited criminal incidents between 1979 and 1997. However, a sociologist claims the linkage remains unclear.
Columbus, Ohio, has plans for more police in hot crime locations, strictly enforcing curfews and launching in June a recreation and job program for teens.
Huntington’s police will -- in Holbrook’s words -- “change our stragegies as people get out and about.” Downtown, in particular, will see an increased bike patrol presence. “That is a fantastic tool for drug enforcement and [curtailing] some of the activity we see in the business district.” Due to placing parking attendants under the police department and providing them with two way communication, the attendants become addditional sets of eyes and ears.
Typically, Huntington’s warm weather brings more theft.
“As people go on vacation, break-ins go up,” Holbrook explained. “We encourage people at community meetings to be diligent about what they see. If it’s unusual, especially when their neighbors have left town, call suspicious activity in so we can be responsive.”
During the first weekend in May, Huntington police reports showed burglaries and break-ins ranged from cars to apartments with pricey electronics the target. In two Sixth Avenue break- ins, thieves used or broke windows to gain access to apartments. One shoved a portable air conditioning unit out of place to enter.
Closing the blinds so no one can see inside could be a way to deter some of the incidents. Officers said that prior to breaking and entering the thief often looks through windows scouting for gadget goodies and for ways to grab them without getting caught.
Last summer, Washington, D.C. cut crime rates with an “all hands on deck” initiative, which sent the entire police force out on patrol. The initiative based on August 2007 statistics netted a seven percent drop for the District of Columbia. Previously, D.C. has forced officers to work six-day weeks, which cut down crime, but caused a $14 million overtime hit to the budget.
Two years ago, violent crime in Charleston, South Carolina skyrocketed. According to an article in the Charleston City Paper, “more homicides had been committed in the first half of 2006 than in the entirety of any other year for over a decade.”
About the same time Huntingtonians were also scratching their heads regarding big city violence in a small West Virginia city, the South Carolina city dealt with “the most homicides committed in the first half of 2006 than in the entirety of any other year for over a decade,” wrote Elle Lien. Outgoing Police Chief Ned Hethington told City Paper, “most of them do not go to jail.” In fact, the chief defended the twelve homicide total in part by stating “innocents were not involved…these guys are shooting each other over guns and stuff.”
The numbers included the evening news almost daily filled with reports of theft, violence, car chases, gun shots, stabbings, caches of weapons found, sexual assaults, and slayings in public parks.
Huntington experienced the off the chart homicide rate in 2005, the year that Megan Poston, Donte Ward, Eddrick Clark, and Michael Dillon died on May 22 on Charleston Avenue. Prior to the May killings, the city had recorded only one homicide in 2005. During the summer months, the city had at least one killing a month. Walter Henry died October 13, 2005 near the Shannon’s Way Apartment complex on Ninth Avenue.
At that time Lt. Mike Coffey told HNN society was becoming more violent and the drug element was always in play. “It’s not just in Huntington,” Coffey explained. In addition, he called the deaths “random acts” in the “heart of passion” that occurred amongst people participating in risky activities.
By 2006, the homicide rate stabilized at zero, where it remained for nearly two years. Sheriff Kim Wolfe complimented then “combined efforts” of the Huntington, Barboursville, Milton, Cabell and Wayne County (Sheriff’s Departments) and West Virginia State Police.
“Most of the [2005] murders were connected with drug activity,” Wolfe said, adding “drug sales would stop tomorrow if there was no demand. If people want drugs, they will find them.”
At the end of April 2007, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives announced a joint effort in cooperation with the Huntington Police Department and the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department. The River City Area Gun Crimes Task Force.
Chief Holbrook stated in a news release, “The most significant law enforcement and social issue facing Huntington is the illegal drug trade,” said Holbrook. “The illegal drug trade contributes to most of the other crime issues within the city. The following crime statistics took place in 2007 and were perpetrated by individuals fueling their drug habit and/or furthering the local drug trade: 1,168 burglaries, 194 robberies and the seizure of 194 firearms.”
When Charleston, S.C. dealt with their summer 2006 crime problems, the mayor due to surging gunplay among hoodlums instituted “Operation Cease Fire.” The “Criminal + Gun = Jail” prompted formation of a Career Criminal Tracking Unit which shared information with prosecutors and judges to increase convictions and prison time.
The initiative there also in cooperation with the ATF sought to transfer gun crime cases to federal court where penalties are stiffer.
That same year Charleston, S.C. considered implementation of video surveillance which had been instituted successfully in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 2003.
Hethington argued, “The same guys are dealing drugs. And they are usually out on bond or probation for outstanding charges. I'm arresting these people over and over and over and they aren't in jail where I put them. The courts need to help us out and put people away."
A member of that city’s Career Criminal Tracking Unit estimated 98 percent of convicted offenders commit crimes again once released. Sgt. Debbie Fritts, of the Charleston, S.C. department, cited, according to the Charleston City Paper, “loose probation guidelines as the primary cause of this extremely high recidivism rate.” In her words, “Probation agents are overwhelmed,” with agents handling about 150 cases each and often the accused ran free on the streets during the 18 to 24 months for a case to come before a judge.
It’s May 2008. A third anniversary of the quadruple killings rapidly approaches. That case, and the 2007 killing of Leah Hickman, remain unsolved. However, by comparing the approaches taken in southern cities with similar crime problems, it’s a compliment to our law enforcement officers that they have indeed taken many of the necessary steps to work together and get the drug thugs off the streets.
Let’s pray that the Summer of 2008, echoes homicide statistics along the lines of 2006 and 2007 instead of a repeat of the 2005 bloodbath.
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NEWS ANALYSIS: Warm Weather Means More Crime
Will the Summer of 2008 be another Season of Mean Huntington Streets?
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) -- Hot weathers equals hot tempers.
And, for whatever reason, the dripping sweat and sweltering humidity spurs increases in crime, not just in Huntington, but nationwide.
Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook stated, “Any time the weather improves, it causes people to go out.”
Law enforcement officials and academic professors have braced for a 2008 summer spike in neighboring Ohio. Why? Tougher economic times. Amidst the lazy, hazy summer nights, choices for young people narrow, particularly with the cost of a gallon of gas panting to break the $4.00 barrier in this mostly rural state with limited public transportation. Less teen cruising may seem beneficial, but not if that has them milling around streets and sidewalks near their homes adding to the numbers of drug users, drug dealers and prostitutes present.
Bruce Weinberg, an Ohio State University economist, has found that the drop in wages and rising unemployment rates ignited criminal incidents between 1979 and 1997. However, a sociologist claims the linkage remains unclear.
Columbus, Ohio, has plans for more police in hot crime locations, strictly enforcing curfews and launching in June a recreation and job program for teens.
Huntington’s police will -- in Holbrook’s words -- “change our stragegies as people get out and about.” Downtown, in particular, will see an increased bike patrol presence. “That is a fantastic tool for drug enforcement and [curtailing] some of the activity we see in the business district.” Due to placing parking attendants under the police department and providing them with two way communication, the attendants become addditional sets of eyes and ears.
Typically, Huntington’s warm weather brings more theft.
“As people go on vacation, break-ins go up,” Holbrook explained. “We encourage people at community meetings to be diligent about what they see. If it’s unusual, especially when their neighbors have left town, call suspicious activity in so we can be responsive.”
During the first weekend in May, Huntington police reports showed burglaries and break-ins ranged from cars to apartments with pricey electronics the target. In two Sixth Avenue break- ins, thieves used or broke windows to gain access to apartments. One shoved a portable air conditioning unit out of place to enter.
Closing the blinds so no one can see inside could be a way to deter some of the incidents. Officers said that prior to breaking and entering the thief often looks through windows scouting for gadget goodies and for ways to grab them without getting caught.
Last summer, Washington, D.C. cut crime rates with an “all hands on deck” initiative, which sent the entire police force out on patrol. The initiative based on August 2007 statistics netted a seven percent drop for the District of Columbia. Previously, D.C. has forced officers to work six-day weeks, which cut down crime, but caused a $14 million overtime hit to the budget.
Two years ago, violent crime in Charleston, South Carolina skyrocketed. According to an article in the Charleston City Paper, “more homicides had been committed in the first half of 2006 than in the entirety of any other year for over a decade.”
About the same time Huntingtonians were also scratching their heads regarding big city violence in a small West Virginia city, the South Carolina city dealt with “the most homicides committed in the first half of 2006 than in the entirety of any other year for over a decade,” wrote Elle Lien. Outgoing Police Chief Ned Hethington told City Paper, “most of them do not go to jail.” In fact, the chief defended the twelve homicide total in part by stating “innocents were not involved…these guys are shooting each other over guns and stuff.”
The numbers included the evening news almost daily filled with reports of theft, violence, car chases, gun shots, stabbings, caches of weapons found, sexual assaults, and slayings in public parks.
Huntington experienced the off the chart homicide rate in 2005, the year that Megan Poston, Donte Ward, Eddrick Clark, and Michael Dillon died on May 22 on Charleston Avenue. Prior to the May killings, the city had recorded only one homicide in 2005. During the summer months, the city had at least one killing a month. Walter Henry died October 13, 2005 near the Shannon’s Way Apartment complex on Ninth Avenue.
At that time Lt. Mike Coffey told HNN society was becoming more violent and the drug element was always in play. “It’s not just in Huntington,” Coffey explained. In addition, he called the deaths “random acts” in the “heart of passion” that occurred amongst people participating in risky activities.
By 2006, the homicide rate stabilized at zero, where it remained for nearly two years. Sheriff Kim Wolfe complimented then “combined efforts” of the Huntington, Barboursville, Milton, Cabell and Wayne County (Sheriff’s Departments) and West Virginia State Police.
“Most of the [2005] murders were connected with drug activity,” Wolfe said, adding “drug sales would stop tomorrow if there was no demand. If people want drugs, they will find them.”
At the end of April 2007, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives announced a joint effort in cooperation with the Huntington Police Department and the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department. The River City Area Gun Crimes Task Force.
Chief Holbrook stated in a news release, “The most significant law enforcement and social issue facing Huntington is the illegal drug trade,” said Holbrook. “The illegal drug trade contributes to most of the other crime issues within the city. The following crime statistics took place in 2007 and were perpetrated by individuals fueling their drug habit and/or furthering the local drug trade: 1,168 burglaries, 194 robberies and the seizure of 194 firearms.”
When Charleston, S.C. dealt with their summer 2006 crime problems, the mayor due to surging gunplay among hoodlums instituted “Operation Cease Fire.” The “Criminal + Gun = Jail” prompted formation of a Career Criminal Tracking Unit which shared information with prosecutors and judges to increase convictions and prison time.
The initiative there also in cooperation with the ATF sought to transfer gun crime cases to federal court where penalties are stiffer.
That same year Charleston, S.C. considered implementation of video surveillance which had been instituted successfully in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 2003.
Hethington argued, “The same guys are dealing drugs. And they are usually out on bond or probation for outstanding charges. I'm arresting these people over and over and over and they aren't in jail where I put them. The courts need to help us out and put people away."
A member of that city’s Career Criminal Tracking Unit estimated 98 percent of convicted offenders commit crimes again once released. Sgt. Debbie Fritts, of the Charleston, S.C. department, cited, according to the Charleston City Paper, “loose probation guidelines as the primary cause of this extremely high recidivism rate.” In her words, “Probation agents are overwhelmed,” with agents handling about 150 cases each and often the accused ran free on the streets during the 18 to 24 months for a case to come before a judge.
It’s May 2008. A third anniversary of the quadruple killings rapidly approaches. That case, and the 2007 killing of Leah Hickman, remain unsolved. However, by comparing the approaches taken in southern cities with similar crime problems, it’s a compliment to our law enforcement officers that they have indeed taken many of the necessary steps to work together and get the drug thugs off the streets.
Let’s pray that the Summer of 2008, echoes homicide statistics along the lines of 2006 and 2007 instead of a repeat of the 2005 bloodbath.
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Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
