Eastpointe

Report: Less crime in Eastpointe in 2011

By Sara Kandel
C & G Staff Writer

EASTPOINTE — The report is in and crime is down in Eastpointe.

On Jan. 4, Police Chief Mike Lauretti published a 10-year crime trends report dating from 2002 to 2011. The report revealed some interesting finds.

Crime is down almost across the board in Eastpointe, with larceny and vandalism rates lower in 2011 than any other time in the 10-year span the report covers. Larceny was down from a high of 813 incidents in 2003 to 638 in 2010 to 547 in 2011. Vandalism rates in the city, which saw a high of 482 incidents reported in 2008, were down to 290 reported incidents in 2011.

“Our officers are getting better at solving crimes faster and arresting the suspects,” Lauretti said. “Last year, we eliminated a crew that was doing B & Es. Once they were off the streets, we were getting in less reports of B and Es. And that’s often the case, that it’s one crew or group that is committing many of the crimes. The faster we get them off the street the lower the crime rate stays.”

The low crime rate in 2011 might come as a surprise to some residents who protested the layoffs of five officers last June, worried the smaller force size would lead to increased crime.

It’s a common misconception, said Eastpointe City Manager Steve Duchane.

“In layoff situations, people tend to think that the layoffs will directly affect the bottom line by rapidly increasing crime, but it is much more complex and sophisticated then that. And to tell you the truth, the field strength is relatively the same as what it was.”

“The city of Eastpointe has actually managed to reduce crime in the city,” Mayor Suzanne Pixley said. “We’ve been able to do that because of a very creative police chief who has reorganized his department, putting his administrative people on 12-hour shifts so more officers could be out on the road.”

“The road patrol is the backbone of the department, and we did what we had to, to keep that intact,” Lauretti said.

But that doesn’t fully explain why crime rates fell so much in Eastpointe.

Lauretti said it’s hard to say — better work on behalf of the officers and better technology surely helped, though, because as the report shows, crime is down, but arrests are up.

Duchane, a former police officer, said he doesn’t know exactly why crime trends are down either, but he offered one theory: that when the economy is bad or people hear about police layoffs, they tend to remember to lock their doors and not keep their car running unlocked in their driveway — and seemingly little things like that help to keep criminals at bay.

Lauretti agreed.

“Crime fighting is a partnership between the Police Department and the residents of the city. When residents do their part to deter crime, it also helps when they take part in reporting crime.”

Whatever the police and residents are doing is working because in 2011 even dispatched calls were down in the city, from 26,867 in 2010 to 25,876 in 2010. There were no murders in the city, and criminal sexual conduct and robbery cases were at a three-year low.

Some areas of crime did increase — driving while under the influence and assault incidents saw a small spikes in 2011, but overall crime in Eastpointe is down.

“If residents took one thing away from the report, I would want it to be that Eastpointe is a safe city. It’s a safe city to live, work, shop and eat in,” Lauretti said.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Sara Kandel at skandel@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1030.