I have an automated report that spawns every afternoon to let Mr. Carver know about new graffiti cases. I also direct a copy to myself, and have thought I was noticing unusually small numbers this year. I ran the data. Sure enough, the decline I noted back in 2014 has continued and has even gone significantly deeper in 2015 and 2016. So far this year, LPD has handled 152 graffiti cases. Here's a graph that shows that same time period over the past six years. That is a mighty dramatic drop in a crime that was already falling significantly.
15 comments:
Do you feel this is due to a drop in gang activity? Or is that wishful thinking?
Maybe people just aren't reporting them now that they know they only have a certain amount of time to remove the graffiti at their own expense.
I wonder if the street taggers have moved to "social media" instead? I do have to say some of these Graffiti Artists are talented but they are still a nuisance.
Gun Nut
So the trend went way down after 2014? That's about the time I sent my kids to go live with their Mother.
Gang activity down? No.
Tag gets moved to Instagram. No.
ARRRG!!!!'s custody issues? Check.
I commented earlier, and I doubt you used your powers as moderator to keep it from being posted, so I must have screwed up. I'm only half serious about this, but it's worth considering. Perhaps the drop in statistics is not all due to less graffiti, but perhaps less reporting of it. I can imagine being a property owner who was targeted, and knowing the law will require me (at my expense) to clean it up within a certain time frame, not reporting it. Maybe I can't spare the money, or maybe I don't care, or maybe I just need more time, but if I report it, I'm stuck with cleaning it up.
Steve,
Possible, but I would think we would all be noticing more graffiti if the phenomenon was under-reporting. Also, the big drop starts btw 2013 and 2914: the abatement ordinance was adopted in 2006. Frankly, I'm stumped.
Reporting did get easier with the Action Center smartphone app. (Easiest way to report by far. GPS on, snap a pic, submit, done!) Possibly knowing that it will be easier to report and be removed has contributed some.
Perhaps we should stop looking a gift horse in the mouth. :)
This question is unrelated to the graffiti issue but I don't see where to send a question directly to you. I was watching (on Youtube) an edition of Young Turks called "Why Walmarts are becoming hotbeds of crime" and wondered if Lincoln Police have the same issues with local Lincoln Walmarts?
Duane H
damdog,
Yes, but it varies dramatically by store. There was a big article in Bloomberg a couple weeks ago that I forwarded to the chief. I also calculated the police CFS at each location in Lincoln. It is unclear, however, how the demand for service would compare to a similar amount of retail space elsewhere. Retail is a huge driver police activity, wherever it is located, and whatever the brand--although there are some significant differences based on everything from the product mix to the business practices.
Big retailers also bring in a pile of sales tax revenue, don't they? Aren't sales taxes an important part of funding public safety agencies in Lincoln?
12:19,
Why, yes they certainly do. Again, though, I'm not sure that a big retailer is significantly different than a bunch of smaller retailers. My sense is that retail is retail, and the total square footage and sales is what drives both demand for police services and sales tax revenue--not how that pie is divided up. Just my guess, though. I can tell you that's I'd prefer a thriving restaurant and bar scene to a bunch of adult entertainment businesses, and an area of mixed retail to a strip of head shops!
I wonder how officer-hours per $1,000 of city sales tax revenue compare on incidents at Wal-mart vs incidents at (and out in front of) Duffy's, Sandy's, and Brothers?
9:29,
I think I can tell you how that math would work out. Good point. Here are some other places that are magnets for police CFS: hospitals, high schools, homeless shelters, jails, transportation centers, and (wait for it...)
....police stations!
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