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Crime rate hits record low
By BLAINE CRIMMINS, bcrimmins@acnpapers.com
Last year was a good year for crime in The Colony - or a bad one, depending on how you look at it.
The Colony Police Department released its annual crime report late last month, detailing the numbers for 2009. The overall crime rate dropped 13.6 percent while the per capita rate dropped 14.5 percent, setting record lows for the past 20 years. Statistics were not kept prior to 1990.
Most high-profile crime numbers went down from 2008. There were no murders in 2009 and the number of rapes decreased by three for a total of 10. The victim knew the suspect in all cases. There were seven robberies last year, half the number reported in 2008. The suspect was unknown in five of those cases.
Most thefts are crimes of opportunity, and the best way to avoid being a victim is to remove the opportunity by parking vehicles in the garage, securing items around the home (especially bicycles), and by keeping garage doors closed, the report stated.
The report attributes the overall decrease in thefts to a reduction in vehicular burglaries, which totaled 267 in 2008. Vehicular burglaries are most often the result of car doors being left unlocked. Suspects will walk down the street checking doors until an unlocked vehicle is found.
Motor vehicle thefts also decreased last year for a total of 37, down 22 from 2008. Forty-six percent were passenger cars, 40 percent were trucks and SUVs, and 14 percent were motorcycles. Vehicle thefts were spread evenly across the city and primarily associated with population-dense areas, stated the report.
The only exception being the residential area between Nash Drive and North Colony Boulevard, bordered to the east and west by a utility easement, where five vehicular thefts occurred. The most frequently stolen makes were Ford (8), Chevrolet (7), and Honda (5).
Two types of crime increased in 2009, aggravated assault and burglary. Aggravated assaults increased by 15 cases from the previous year. Thirty percent of those were among family members and are considered family violence. The victim knew the suspect in 85 percent of assault cases.
There were 211 burglaries in 2009, 42 more than reported in 2008. Forcible entry was used in 48 percent of the cases. This is in contrast to the state average of 66 percent, indicating that some residential burglaries might be prevented by closing and locking doors, the report stated.
Where forced was used, burglars entered through the backdoor 44 percent of the time. Where force was not used, entry through an unlocked front door or open garage was the most frequent. Sixty percent of all burglaries took place during the day. The most frequently stolen items were jewelry, tools, computers, and gaming systems.
Statewide, burglars are most often white males between the ages of 15 and 19. In The Colony, 80 percent of burglary arrests were males and 50 percent of those were under 21 years old. Three out of four were under the age of 30.
In the report, Police Chief Joe Clark states that The Colony is one of the safest areas in North Dallas, and retains a lower per capita crime rate than neighboring cities along the State Highway 121 corridor. TCPD’s focus for 2010 will be to reduce the number of daytime residential burglaries.
“Based on the data I have seen regionally and nationally, crime has been trending downward; to the surprise of many considering the difficult economic times we are in,” Clark wrote. “We seem to be following the trend. I attribute our significant decrease in auto burglary both to our citizens’ efforts and our active night shift patrol division.”
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