Regarding Crime Reports

I am currently suffering from a very bad cold that went from the explosive sneezing/runny nose stage to the cough/tight chest phase overnight and so I have been staying in bed most of the time, but I would like to weigh in on the crime reporting issue.

One of my first tasks when hired by the Courier News was to drive to 11 police stations each Saturday and "pick up the blotter," meaning take notes on police reports. Many times,the desk officer in small suburban or rural districts just said, "Nothing to report," and that was it.

Plainfield had a wire basket with copies of police reports, often a great many. Each had the time,date, location, victim's name, nature of crime, and a narrative by the responding officer that had been reviewed by a superior. It took a long time to look through and summarize the most relevant reports. Most turned up as brief items in a special section of the newspaper. Some needed further inquiry and reporting for a story.

Over the years, reporting changed both at the police station end and in the newsroom. Plainfielders were very sensitive over the contrasts between municipalities where the worst crime in a week was a vandalized mailbox and Plainfield's litany of more serious crimes. Officials sometimes sought to have these reports condensed or eliminated, as they gave the city "a bad name." At times the unlucky reporter assigned to pick up the Plainfield blotter would be turned away or made to wait a long time, because the reports were still being reviewed.

The newspaper always held the "cop run" to be a vital part of reporting - until it didn't. The policy on deploying staff changed and with it went a large chunk of potential information. Living in Plainfield myself, I wanted to know when there was a rash of purse snatchings or other trend to watch out for. In that way, I figured, I could take precautions.

The statististics from these reports did eventually turn up in the Uniform Crime Report, but as with all government data, it was from the past. Nor did it include what reporters saw in the narratives, whether about the Lollipop Burglar, whose m.o. (modus operandi) was to enter a home by the second floor while enjoying his candy, or about the harmless but colorful homeless man, always impeccably dressed, who once politely brought in a newspaper for the desk officer, unaware that it contained a "Most Wanted" description of himself for some infraction in Somerset County.

It was also through these narratives that people knew to watch out for metal thieves, con games on the elderly, and burglary rings targeting neighborhoods.

Times changed. As I understand it, the blotter is now just what police departments send in to the newspaper.    Police assignments have changed here as the number of captains went from five to seven and now to three. (Check Plainfield's assignments here.) Beat deployment has been addressed different ways, especially walking beats. Still, police work with neighborhood groups and a block association consortium to improve public safety.

So what would people prefer, data or narratives or both? Click here to see an example of how police and residents collaborate in the West Seattle crime watch on the neighborhood's blog. Maria's examples seem to have mainly data through a software program. Some neighborhood groups here email crime watch alerts to members. All these options depend on policies and, to some extent, funding. The New Year may be an opportune time to see what leaders will offer to improve public safety and communication between government and neighborhoods.

--Bernice