Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Annual Report for 2009

Last Friday, Officer Katie Flood quietly posted the Annual Report of the Lincoln Police Department for 2009.  Again this year, it is an online-only document: if you want one to hold, you can simply print your own copy.  I continue to be impressed and the quality of Officer Flood’s graphic design, reflected both in this document and in our public website, which she manages.  My favorite part of the Annual Report is the “Year in Review,” but I find myself turning most frequently to the statistical data, which I often use as a handy reference.  The 2009 Annual Reports adds to an impressive archive of these data stretching back over a century.  Enjoy!

2009AR

16 comments:

Cash said...

Any thoughts on the drops in speeding violations and warnings? That was really the only thing that surprised me. I was impressed with the 2,000 even MIPS, but then again I'm easily impressed.

Anonymous said...

Chief, thank you for posting this; I am glad to have the information as a citizen of Lincoln, and it looks as if the police force is doing a very good job. Any sense of what accounts for the increase in rapes the past year?

Taylor said...

Thats a good picture of the SWAT team on page 2

Tom Casady said...

Cash,

No not really. I'm not especially concerned, though. Quantity alone isn't the only indicator of good traffic enforcement. We had a record year for DWI arrests, which doesn't make a lot of sense. Last year's traffic tickets were still above the ten year average. The year-to-year fluctuations are not as significant to me as the long term trends.

9:19-

No, I don't have a clear sense of that, but rape is down 30.8% through the first quarter of 2010. When you have a crime category with a small number, the year-to-year fluctuations will be greater than for a crime with a large number. Long term, rapes are one of only two crimes that are increasing faster than population (the other one is robbery). The 2009 number ties with 2004 as the highest year on record. Keep in mind that these data are for reported rapes, and rape is probably among the most under-reported of all crimes.

Anonymous said...

Chief why was the movie gate blog deleted?

Tom Casady said...

12:05-

It was there for 4 days--plenty long to explain in my own words what was being reported in the news, and I was getting spammed big time from nincompoops without any idea what they were talking about. That's what's nice about running your own blog.

Anonymous said...

Chief,

Just like this nice report coming out every spring, this lame idea will always pop up again like clockwork every year.

Anonymous said...

The archival photos (especially from the early '70's) may just keep me planted in this chair...for hours!
It's great to see everything from days past.

Anonymous said...

Chief-Thanks for taking down the mea culpa blog. My blood pressure seems lower.

The annual report is awesome. Kudos to Officer Flood and the gang on another great effort.

Just curious, were annual reports not done from 1975-1985?

256

Anonymous said...

This isn't really on topic but have you seen this?

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1270596195906RA20

Just trying to get you to smile chief!

Nyfty said...

Chief: Thanks for posting the '09 Annual Report. I have a couple of light questions and one a lot more pressing to myself. On the lighter note. As a daily motorcycle rider I'm glad to see the reduction in total motorcycle accidents in '09. Can you attribute the reduction to one or several factors? Fewer riders, fewer miles ridden, cage drivers being more aware, better/more rider training? I'm not letting my riding skills get rusty, and I'm not going to relax. And for darned sure I'm going to ride in ATGATT. (All the gear all the time)

The second lighter note is where do the "motors" fall in the Police Garage? Traffic Enforcement?

On a much more important note is from page 38. Crime Rate Comparison. I travel to TX and LA for work and have stayed/worked in all the TX and LA cities listed. I can understand the low rates for
(39) Plano TX, and (35) Garland TX. But I also travel to (6) Baton Rouge LA, (8) New Orleans, (19) Corpus Christi TX, and (25) Laredo TX. Some much higher than Lincoln. And I can understand that, I ramp up my situational awareness (Orange)when I'm working in those cities. I'm always looking for a Marine Rifle Squad escort when I'm in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Still haven't found my security detail!

But what am I missing with Laredo TX being #25, four higher than Lincoln? With the spill over from Mexico, I can't understand how it can be as close to Lincoln as the report states. Is it how the numbers are crunched? Or is Lincoln not quite as idyllic as I've experienced since 1987?

I'm always relieved to go wheels up when leaving New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Laredo. But is wheels down in Lincoln time to raise the situtional awareness level again?

Tom Casady said...

6:29-

That's five minutes of my life I'll never get back, waiting for the long download. I was spewing my morning coffee, though, so you accomplished your mission!

Jim-

Lincoln still has that feeling of bliss, IMHO, even though we have plenty going on under the surface. I agree with you, though, about the hyper-alert sense that comes over you in some other cities. I've certainly had it in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, as well. I've never been to Laredo, but their crime data looks fairly similar to Lincoln in 2008--ten homicides vs. our four, a hundred more robberies, 98 more robberies, 35 fewer rapes. Their population is about 30,000 smaller.

The only really odd crime difference I note is auto thefts: 348 in Lincoln, 1,727 in Laredo. These data in the Annual Report are for the four violent FBI Part 1 Crimes: Murder, Rape, Robbery, and Aggravated Assault.

Anonymous said...

When trying to compare cities, mainly pay attention to the murder rates, for reasons previously discussed here, and reasons of which the bulk of the press seems almost completely ignorant.

To sum up: real rates and reported rates are almost always very different. The higher-crime the locale, the greater the disparity between actual and reported crime rates. Murder is the most "trustable" rate, followed by business robbery and auto theft, but murder is the gold standard, the crime for which real and reported rates are virtually identical.

Anonymous said...

"The only really odd crime difference I note is auto thefts: 348 in Lincoln, 1,727 in Laredo"

The vast majority of those cars are going over the border ASAP after being stolen. How many South of the Border chop shops are there in Saline County?

Tom Casady said...

6:41-

That was my assumption. I would assume in Saline County, the local authorities suspect that uncleared crimes are usually to product of exports from the Sodom of the North. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I know this is Public Works' territory, but is it about time for their 2009 Traffic Study to be released or not?