| During the past few months, crime has risen to the forefront of citywide discussions about the quality of life in Madison. For many people, whether it is real or perceived, crime is on the rise in Madison and some, particularly on the eastern and western edges of the city, view their neighborhoods as less safe than just a few years ago. In response to the concerns about crime, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is placing funding for an additional 30 police officers in the city of Madison's 2008 operating budget, made possible, in part, by the early closure of two of the city's tax incremental financing districts and the resulting property tax windfall. In order to maintain the proposed level of police staffing in 2009, the city would have to make cuts elsewhere in its budget or increase property taxes. According to Madison Police Chief Noble Wray, serious crime -- murder, armed robbery, arson and similar violent crimes -- are down 4.5 percent during the first half of 2007. However, Wray is quick to point out that crime, particularly quality of life crimes, are up on the west side and other areas while they may have declined in other parts of the city. When one looks at the trends in serious crimes from 1999-2006 from the Unified Crime Report compiled by the FBI, it appears that the number of serious crimes rises and falls in cycles. In 2005, the number of serious crimes reported was 8,748 while in 2006 the reported total was 8,656. However, while aggravated assault, robbery and burglary rose 9.7%, 31.8% and 11.2% respectively, forcible rape, theft and stolen autos and bikes declined 16.2%, 5.1% and 21% respectively. While the overall number of serious crimes declined from 2005-2006, some of the more visible crimes rose significantly. And just to put it in perspective, in 1976, there were 11,646 serious crimes -- or almost 3,000 more serious crimes than 2006 -- in Madison although Madison's population was significantly lower. So while some may perceive that crime is getting worse in Madison as it is perceived to be more urban and diverse, the fact is that Madison is relatively safer overall in terms of serious crime today than it was 30 years ago. What fuels the perception of crime is shifts in geography in terms of where the crimes occur, the relative visibility and sensational nature of the types of crime that are on the rise and the rise of other quality of life crimes. Historically, the Madison Police Department has provided city-wide police coverage, while focusing additional resources on city crime -- hot spots -- often times utilizing federal grants made available for such purposes. "The last three years, every ounce of available resources that we have above and beyond, we have allocated them to Allied and downtown," Wray said in an interview with The Capital City Hues. "The good news here is that for a variety of reasons, we're seeing some positive results in the Allied Drive area. Some of it is associated with a reduction in density, but the reality is that was the most violent area in the city in terms of shots fired, weapons offenses, etc. We're also starting to see some problem declines in the downtown area. But thats not enough anymore. Vera Court was an area that we spent a tremendous amount of resources on and it dramatically improved as well as Lake Point -- Simpson Street and Mifflin Street. People don't realize we had a neighborhood officer on Mifflin Street. And then there was Truax. All of these areas dramatically improved." It is perhaps the success of the police department in reducing violent crime in these areas that has fueled expectations that increased focus of resources on the west side and other areas will reduce or prevent the quality of life crimes that have been increasing in frequency in recent years. "They didn't want officers out there doing the hard enforcement and responding to calls," Wray said about comments at west side listening sessions. "They want officers who are visible, engaging on foot and on bikes." So perhaps with rising expectations, Wray and his administration must do a cost-benefit analysis to deal with the crime -- hot spots -- and provide the level of police presence and interaction that is expected of them and will be effective city-wide. "As a police administrator, I'm given so many officers and I'm asked to provide a high quality police service where officers are able on discretionary time to spend time with people at Truax or on Willy Street," Wray said. "When the calls for service go down in those areas to the point where I have an officer sitting out -- this was the case in Truax -- and focusing on parking complaints more than anything else and another area in the city needs and demands an officer to provide that level of service, I have to pull away from here and add there. We were policing the city from a limited resource prioritization model. We have to prioritize where the problems are. So we pulled from Truax and we pulled from Willy Street. So far, we're cautiously optimistic, but my commitment is that if we need through a community policing liaison officer to put someone back there or to actually put a full-time neighborhood officer back there, we're committed to doing that." Sometimes, it is the personal relationships between the police and community members that impacts how the neighborhood will deal with the crime issue. "We generally try to help the community understand that one of our first jobs is to reduce the level of fear," Wray said. "What was really positive about these listening sessions is that there wasn't a lot of apathy. People were saying 'This is what we can do. I want to get involved. I want to support things.' That is a very positive thing. This was in stark difference to some of those challenged neighborhoods where the level of fear was so high. And when the level of fear is high, the level of communication goes down. That is communication between neighbors and communication between law enforcement and the community. All of that goes down and all of the research demonstrates that. But probably just as important is that the stature of the people committing the crimes goes up because no one is talking and then their stature goes up. That's why managing fear is so important." But as police officers become engaged in the community to lessen fear and prevent different types of crime with a heightened police presence, there is also the danger that the role of the officers can become blurred and confused. "There comes a time in a neighborhood where you have to ask yourself the question 'Are you helping this neighborhood or has that neighborhood become so dependent on you that it isn't doing the things it needs to do,'" Wray said. "So they look to the officer to do all of these things. That's a critical time because our role is not to do everything for the neighborhood. Our role is to be the catalyst for the neighborhood to empower itself. Now in terms of providing service, we still need to provide that very engaging, connecting service, working in partnership, etc. But sometimes people get that confused. I hear other service providers saying 'I need that officer out there to do the things that I ask.' Well, they're doing the things that the service provider should be doing." And in some cases, the police officer may end up hurting instead of helping the long-term development of the social fabric in a neighborhood that acts as the first deterrent to crime. "One day as a neighborhood officer, I'm standing out on the corner and getting ready to do some fishing with some kids from Simpson Street," Wray recalled from his 1980s role as a community police officer in the Simpson Street area. "I don't mind doing that. It was my role. Simpson Street had a high number of young kids. I call them the 'Prime Time Players,' and there were not a lot of men, mentors out there. But as I looked out on the corner and saw people dealing drugs, I wondered 'What do I focus on here?' So what I think a police officer's role should be is this. It's okay to go fishing and it's okay to fulfill that role. But it should be with the goal of encouraging other people to do that. Otherwise, you're creating a sense of service-dependency. So I started thinking 'Well, there are guys who live out here who could be going fishing with these kids.'" In the end, it is oftentimes the police to whom neighborhoods and the community look to for a sense of security and a perspective on crime through their presence and communication. "When crime goes up, it is important to communicate more, be visible more and help people understand it and put it into the proper context," Wray said. "But then you need to help the community ask what the contributing factors are." And even if there is a divide between the perception of crime and the reality of crime, the police have to deal with the perception as much as it has to deal with the reality of crime. "Perception is reality," Wray said. "We have to deal with the perception -- if there is a perception -- in helping people understand the facts and information. But if someone perceives that this is happening, we have to deal with it from a real standpoint. From a public safety standpoint, I have to deal with it from their perspective. In all of these listening sessions, I did not sit down as a chief of police. I sat down to listen as a resident or neighbor. That's what I told them. I'll have to process and respond to what they said as a chief of police, but if I sit down as a chief and listen to it, I want to have answers and I'm not listening to where people are coming from. And that was really important." And as the housing stock on the west side of Madison continues to age -- especially some of the large complexes -- the perception and reality of crime may become intensified. "Wait until we get some of this housing stock in these condos starting to age and you have several different owners within a condo area that are 'bad' and it is run down," Wray warned. "The complexity with that is overwhelming. That is something we need to be careful with. I've seen that in other cities. People back 15-20 years ago never thought this could happen on the southwest side. But we need to look ahead. We're building a lot of condos around here. And they aren't always going to remain at the premium market value." Perception could become reality. |
| Chief Noble Wray talks about crime in Madison The perception of crime By Jonathan Gramling Part 2 of 2 |
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