Giving Context To Decatur’s Recent Burglary and Larceny Uptick
Decatur Metro | August 12, 2013
Over on the website, Decaturish, journalist and Decatur resident Dan Whisenhunt has acquired crime data from the Decatur Police Department and gives some good context to the recent uptick in burglaries and larcenies in Decatur over the first six months of the year. (Many are also probably interested in July data, which hasn’t been completely compiled yet, but Dan was able to get robbery counts, which was 6 in July 2013 and 3 in July 2012.)
It may also interest many that robberies, assaults and motor vehicle thefts are all down vs. same period last year.
Click over to read Dan’s full account, which also includes annual violent and property crime levels for Decatur back to 1985.
Additionally, he’s got a follow up post that compares Decatur’s crime to the most similar place that he could locate, Carrboro, NC.
Chart courtesy of Decaturish
Latest from Decaturish
One reason for the drop in crime around 1994 could have been the demolition of East Lake Meadows . “Little Vietnam” had the highest crime rate in Atlanta at the time, which I’m sure spilled over into Decatur.
Wow, thanks for sharing this! It’s nice to get this perspective.
Those statistics are enviable and certainly show the desirability of Decatur as a place to pitch your tent!
I followed the link re: Carrboro (lived there when I was at UNC – it’s not Decatur, although I did enjoy it) and there is a mention that the 1994-96 crime statistics do not seem to be complete. Perhaps the numbers were underreported, resulting in the false appearance of a drop?
Ah right. I read that but then didn’t put two and two together.
Seems to me that Decatur has a bunch of robber, assault, and car thief slackers compared to last year. What are we going to do about that to help us be more diverse in our crime.
Yes, robberies, assaults and motor vehicle thefts did go down. But the increases in burglaries (+85%), larceny (+21%) and total crimes (+19%) are cause for awareness.
Notice I didn’t say “panic.” Just “awareness.” We’re far from a crisis situation, especially compared to the 80’s statistics. But it’s a good reminder to stay alert, watch out for your neighbors, and stay engaged with our great police force.
Do the math for just the May and June periods and you’ll see the reason for the recent concern. Total crimes over those two months in 2012 were 104. The total in 2013 is 147. That’s an increase of 41% over last year. The July figures will be very interesting to help determine if that is a trend and not an aberration.
I hope the numbers go down now that DeKalb schools are back in session.
You are assuming the teenage perps go to school.
Some of them do. It’s sad.
Heck, some of them may even teach in the DeKalb schools.
I do as well.
The numbers are telling, but it seems the nature and location of the robberies have changed. Last year a few individuals were held up late on dark streets at night leaving downtown establishments. This year teenagers are pulling guns on families in public parks or walking down their street just to steal a damn phone, all in broad daylight. Or, they are holding up people sitting in their front yard. People can avoid downtown at night if they choose, but, absent locking themselves in their homes, they can’t avoid their streets, nor should they have to. This, to me, is the difference between this year and last year, notwithstanding the statistics.
That’s a great point, DawgFan.
Though I’ve seen no numbers to back it up, it seems that one of the big changes has been in the age of the perps, many of whom have been as young as 14-15. I wonder if there has been a spike in the numbers for that age group nationally.
Haven’t you guys watched The Wire? You can’t count on these stats! Landsman’s been up McNulty’s butt all year to get clearances up or there’s no way Carcetti gets reelected.
Seeing these data makes me want more data because there is an interesting statistical modeling issue. For example, I’m curious about the spatial distribution of the events. My guess is that this is quite different, thus accounting for the concern.
I know that there’s an active area of research that involves modeling of crimes and identifying target locations for additional policing. Makes me want to read some of this.