PRESENTATION November 16, 2010 To: Honorable ... - City of Berkeley

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Office of the City Manager

PRESENTATION November 16, 2010

To:

Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council

From:

Phil Kamlarz, City Manager

Submitted by:

Michael Meehan, Chief of Police

Subject: Quarterly Crime Report: Crime in Berkeley January 1, 2010 – September 30, 2010 INTRODUCTION The City Council has directed the City Manager to provide regular reports on crime in Berkeley. This report will cover crime in the City of Berkeley for the period 2005-2010. The Berkeley Police Department has set a goal of a 10% reduction in Part 1 crime. Through September 2010, the City of Berkeley has experienced a 7% reduction in property crime and a 17% reduction in violent crime. DISCUSSION Most law enforcement agencies in the United States report their crime statistics to the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation using standardized reporting methods developed in the 1930s. The statistics are compiled in the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) which is issued annually. The FBI's primary objective is to generate a reliable set of crime statistics for use in law enforcement administration, operation, and management. The Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook breaks down crime events into consistent measures that can be used to compare crime statistics from year to year. The handbook warns against using UCR statistics to compare crime rates of one jurisdiction to another because of the complexities of all of the variables affecting crime and crime reporting practices. The data provides the Berkeley Police Department a measure to compare and analyze national and local crime trends, the effectiveness of responses to crime, and future planning and potential resource allocation. Crime Statistics This report focuses on crime statistics over the past five years, from 2005 to 2009. Additionally, the report will review crime for the first nine months of 2010 (JanuarySeptember) and how this compares to the first nine months of 2009. Maps are included for each of the major crime categories.

Section One FBI Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)

In the United States, data on serious crime is collected annually by the F.B.I. from over 17,000 law enforcement agencies representing over 90% of the U.S. population. These crimes are tracked in the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). The UCR tracks the following crimes:

Violent Crime -Murder -Rape -Robbery -Aggravated Assault

Property Crime -Burglary -Larceny (grand theft, petty theft, auto burglary) -Auto Theft *Arson is a UCR crime but is tracked separately from violent crimes and property crime. Note: Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Section Two Five Year Crime Trend 2005-2009

Property & Violent Crime 8546 7969

7755

7489 7082

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009


Violent Crime 652 646 639

615

570

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009


Criminal Homicide 8

6 5 4 3

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Rape 27 24

25

22 18

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009


Robbery 496 414

444

431

354

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Aggravated Assault

195

206 179 138 123

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009


Property Crime 7,976 7,323

7,116

6,837 6,467

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009


Burglary 1,229

1,172 1,152

1,095 1,079

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Larceny‐Theft 5,503

5,096 4,949 4,790 4,661

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009


Motor vehicle theft 1,244

1,075

995

952 727

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Arson 36 29

28

25 21

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Section Three September, 2009 to September, 2010

Violent and Property Crime YTD 2010 6000

5383 4941

5000

4000 2009 Jan‐Sept

3000

2010 Jan‐Sept

2000

1000

0

2009 Jan-Sept 2010 Jan-Sept Change % Change Total Violent

466

388

78

-17%



Total Property

4897

4533

364

-7%



Arson

20

20

0

0

Total

5383

4941

442

-8 %




Violent Crime YTD 2010 500

466

450

388

400 350 300

2009 Jan‐Sept

250

2010 Jan‐Sept

200 150 100 50 0

2009 Jan-Sept

2010 Jan-Sept Change % Change

Homicide

4

4

0

0

Rape

20

19

-1

-5%



Robbery

331

260

-71

-21%



Agg Assault

111

105

-6

-5%



Total Violent

466

388

-78

-17%




Property Crime YTD 2010 6000

4897

5000

4533

4000 2009 Jan‐Sept

3000

2010 Jan‐Sept

2000

1000

0

2009 Jan-Sept 2010 Jan-Sept Change % Change Burglary

794

838

+44

+6%



Larceny

3514

3247

-267

-8%



Auto Theft

589

448

-141

-24



Total Property

4897

4533

-364

-7%



20

20

0

0

Arson

Crime Reduction Strategies

Organizational Restructuring The Berkeley Police Department has implemented a significant restructuring of the organization. The overall purpose of these changes is to improve communication and information sharing across functions and to coordinate and align resources where they can most effectively reduce crime and victimization, enhance crime prevention efforts, and respond to community concerns. With this reorganization each of the major divisions of the Department is under new leadership. Organizational changes include the consolidation of two previous divisions into one Support Services Division under Director Lynne Ohlson. This realignment places records, dispatch, property and evidence and jail management information under one manager. Creation of a new Professional Standards Division under Captain Cynthia Harris. This newly created Division, which includes Personnel and Training, brings BPD in line with national standards and best practices. The focus of this Division is to streamline procedures and improve systems and processes to make BPD more efficient, effective and accountable. Consolidation of several Units in Investigations under Captain Dennis Ahearn. Homicide and Robbery formerly separate, now work together in a joint Crimes against Persons Unit. Additionally, Crime Analysis has been expanded. We are working to better utilize data and information when making both tactical and strategic decisions. Establishment of Operational Area Commands in Patrol under recently promoted Captain Erik Upson. Patrol Lieutenants now each command a different geographic area of the city and will serve as Area Commanders. Each of the Area Commanders is working directly with his/her respective Area Coordinator. This shift will allow for better coordination and information sharing among operational units, provides Area Coordinators access to more resources, and ensures community concerns are addressed at a higher, more coordinated, level.

Comp-Stat Comp-Stat, short for computer statistics or comparative statistics, has a proven record of reducing crime and improving the overall operations of major metropolitan police departments. Police Departments in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond have experienced reductions in part 1 crime since their adoption of the Comp-Stat crime reduction and

accountability model. The essence of the model is to provide a basic road map for getting police officers back in the business of proactively addressing crime trends rather than just reacting to them. A vital component of the model is its emphasis on holding police managers directly accountable for combating the crime in their assigned area and providing them the authority to deploy their resources to achieve the desired results. The Berkeley Police Department implemented this model beginning in May of this year.

Crime Analysis The Crime Analysis Response Strategies (CARS) team has been formulated to provide up to the moment crime analysis throughout the city. Rather than waiting to compile statistics at the end of the month, the CARS team is mandated to identify crime problems as quickly as possible. The team has 2 formal meetings each week, but distributes information amongst its members on a constant basis. Once a problem is identified, the team explores the dimensions of the problem, including the determination of dates, times, specific locations, and persons of interest. Each member of the team brings a different perspective and set of resources to the table. Representatives from Operations Division, Investigations Division, the Crime Analysis, and the Community Services Bureau collaborate to focus BPD resources on the most significant and current crime problems. Once the problems are defined the team moves on to strategies for eliminating the problem. The strategies employed have included both traditional enforcement responses, and more creative responses that tap into resources and groups outside BPD.