Total UCR crime reports do not include MPD's e-Reports which are self
reported crimes via the internet and when this service was offered late 2003
and into 2004. Many thousands of people took advantage of the crime
reporting tool. However, the program to intake these "new" crimes did not
nor do mesh with the old programs which count UCR numbers. Nor does the
program assign the crimes per police precinct, and so those numbers are also
subject to review. The service was discontinued mid-year 2004. The
majority of these crimes are theft related and larceny is the single most
occurring crime in Minneapolis. When factoring in eReports, it usually
drives theft crimes up and drives any reduction in total crime down by a
significant number. Therefore the total number of crimes stats posted on
the web is not completely valid when comparing year to year. An FBI/CJIS
audit will review these numbers this fall.
Now that people can no longer use eReports they call the police directly.
The result: an unexplained jump in theft related calls which typically are
50%of all police reports. Violent crime figures were not affected by this
program have been and are the most accurate. In retrospect, although the
service was design to increase reporting, in fact, it discourages people
from doing so. A good idea but not executed well.
Stats aside, if you're the victim of a violent crime then there has been one
too may crime. People vote not only with facts, but with their perceptions,
which oft times shape and influence the way people behave. In the up coming
city elections, those who win most likely will those who can tap in and
validate citizen's perceptions and offer alternatives.
Greg Reinhardt, formally a number cruncher but moved on to Elsewhere
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