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| As police departments are cut, crime climbs |
| By capitolweekly.net/ - Kelly McMillin |
| Published: 04/18/2013 |
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When someone is in danger, or has been the victim of a crime, they call the police. Law enforcement’s ability to respond to these calls is a function of capacity—the number of police officers available to respond when those calls to 911 are made. Much ado has been made about rising crime rates and Public Safety Realignment, the 2011 law that shifts responsibility of non-violent, non-sex, non-serious felons from state prison and parole to county jails and probation. It’s a significant change, but what has been examined less is the impact of cuts over the years to police departments—even before Realignment. Between 2009 and 2012, the City of Salinas saw a 20.9% decrease in the number of its sworn officers. According to the Warren Institute at the UC Berkeley School of Law, Salinas was just one of 20 California cities (with populations of 145,000 or more) that saw reductions, totaling 1,226 for the state since 2009. Others hard hit—Stockton (16.4%), Oakland (18.4%) and San Jose (19.5%)—are the very same cities in the news for troubling upticks in property and/or violent crime between 2009 and 2012. (Eight other California cities also saw increases in property or violent crimes in 2011.) Read More. |
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