A few weeks ago, I blogged about Nebraska Memories, a project of the Nebraska Library Commission to digitize historical material. They've continued to scan LPD historical documents, and there are a lot more of our Annual Reports from the 1940's and 1950's available now.
In the meantime we've been coming at it from the opposite direction, scanning some of our Annual Reports from the 1980's and early 1990's. The net result is that we now have Annual Reports for 20 years online. We'll continue trying to fill in the gaps. Beginning in 1997 we produced the Annual Report with desktop publishing software then distilled document with Adobe Acrobat. The resulting .pdf files are reasonably-sized. For earlier years, though, the reports were scanned as images, so they are pretty large files.
One of my favorite parts of the Annual Reports is the "Year in Review" section we started about twelve years ago. It's interesting to look back at the month-by-month highlights. You'll also find mostly the same data reported from year to year, usually in about the same place within the report. This is a great resource to high school or college students looking for a term paper project.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Curse returns
Last week, I wrote a blog post about the theft of gasoline, noting that the siphoning cases are few--despite the high price of petrol. The second comment on that post contained a link to this Denver Post article. So, guess what happens? Yep, the curse returned. On Monday, we investigated two separate cases where thieves cut into gas tanks to drain away the liquid cash.
These two cases were about a mile apart in northeast Lincoln. The same make and model of vehicle was targeted in both cases. These were both a particular type of commercial van. I believe both were parked on the street. I suspect the suspect has discovered a technique for this specific type of vehicle to make the cut quickly and easily.
To your list of things to watch for, please add legs sticking out from under vehicles in the wee hours. And call us. We clear lots of thefts from autos because watchful citizens saw someone prowling around and picked up the phone.
These two cases were about a mile apart in northeast Lincoln. The same make and model of vehicle was targeted in both cases. These were both a particular type of commercial van. I believe both were parked on the street. I suspect the suspect has discovered a technique for this specific type of vehicle to make the cut quickly and easily.
To your list of things to watch for, please add legs sticking out from under vehicles in the wee hours. And call us. We clear lots of thefts from autos because watchful citizens saw someone prowling around and picked up the phone.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
All for a good cause
Back on June 6, I received this email:
On Friday, I received a phone call in my office from a man who was at the local Sam's Club. He was on his cell phone outside the store, and told me that there was a solicitor there with a table set up selling DARE merchandise. He said he had quizzed this person about how much of the proceeds go to DARE, and that the solicitor dodged the question until he continued pressing--ultimately telling him that it was about 5%. He was somewhat incensed that the name of DARE was being used to raise money which was essentially lining the promoter's pocket.
He had obtained the office phone number from the solicitor and called that before calling me. He said that the phone was answered with something like JM Promotions, and that the person who answered the phone refused to tell him where the office was. He had the number, and I determined that the phone number was indeed to a local business called Momentum Marketing.
If you want to buy this company's wares, and are satisfied that around 5% of the proceeds are going to DARE America (assuming that's true), then have at it. But if anybody thinks their purchase is helping kids in Lincoln or Lancaster County, or supporting DARE locally, it's not. This is a common ploy to use the name of something that sounds like a good cause to make money. Reminds me of another ethically-challenged fundraiser.
Chief Casady,I replied, letting her know that in Lincoln, DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) ended eight years ago, in 2000--primarily due to the fact that we had exhausted our supply of potential instructors over the preceding 11 years, and the fact that the research evidence on the program's effectiveness was not very encouraging.
I was approached by a woman yesterday outside of Walgreens who informed me that the DARE program in Lincoln has been removed from the schools because of budget cutbacks. She was selling DARE merchandise to help keep the program going. I was wondering if this has actually happened (or if it was a con) and if so, if there is something that can be done to reinstate the program. I know there are probably a few good officers who would donate their time and if this were made known to the public many citizens would also help out. Thank you for your time.
On Friday, I received a phone call in my office from a man who was at the local Sam's Club. He was on his cell phone outside the store, and told me that there was a solicitor there with a table set up selling DARE merchandise. He said he had quizzed this person about how much of the proceeds go to DARE, and that the solicitor dodged the question until he continued pressing--ultimately telling him that it was about 5%. He was somewhat incensed that the name of DARE was being used to raise money which was essentially lining the promoter's pocket.
He had obtained the office phone number from the solicitor and called that before calling me. He said that the phone was answered with something like JM Promotions, and that the person who answered the phone refused to tell him where the office was. He had the number, and I determined that the phone number was indeed to a local business called Momentum Marketing.
If you want to buy this company's wares, and are satisfied that around 5% of the proceeds are going to DARE America (assuming that's true), then have at it. But if anybody thinks their purchase is helping kids in Lincoln or Lancaster County, or supporting DARE locally, it's not. This is a common ploy to use the name of something that sounds like a good cause to make money. Reminds me of another ethically-challenged fundraiser.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Gas and GPS
At Wednesday's ACUDAT meeting, we reviewed current crime trends. Trailer thefts, street robberies and garage burglaries were among the topics. We also had a look at the theft of GPS devices. We've had three of these in the past two weeks, and 21 this year. I continue to think this will be a target of growing popularity with thieves, and hope more people take precautions.
One would think, with gas topping $4 per gallon, that the ancient art of siphoning would reappear. It has, although not as many cases have been reported to the police as I would have expected. I suspect that the skill of siphoning is mostly lost on the present generation. The skill of spelling siphon is clearly lost, too. So far this year, ten cases have been reported to the police. One of the victims was a retired police officer. Apparently the thief was unable to get into his locking gas cap (a good precaution), and was scared off, abandoning his hose and gas can.
There's not much of a geographic pattern to these offenses. They are spread around town. They have both picked up in recent weeks though--half of each have been since the first of May:
One would think, with gas topping $4 per gallon, that the ancient art of siphoning would reappear. It has, although not as many cases have been reported to the police as I would have expected. I suspect that the skill of siphoning is mostly lost on the present generation. The skill of spelling siphon is clearly lost, too. So far this year, ten cases have been reported to the police. One of the victims was a retired police officer. Apparently the thief was unable to get into his locking gas cap (a good precaution), and was scared off, abandoning his hose and gas can.
There's not much of a geographic pattern to these offenses. They are spread around town. They have both picked up in recent weeks though--half of each have been since the first of May:
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Helping hand
Monday night, Al Berndt, the assistant director of the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, called me. Al is a former Lincoln police sergeant. He was looking for some Nebraska law enforcement agencies that could commit personnel to an 8-day tour of duty in Cedar Rapids, IA. Nebraska and Iowa have mutually agreed to assist one another in circumstances such as the flooding presently occurring in Iowa.
I immediately committed ten officers, and set about getting a detail lined up. Capt. Doug Srb, Sgt. Chris Peterson, and Sgt. Craig Price were quickly recruited, and seven additional officers, Sharon Howe, Matt Brodd, Brian Golden, Mike Muff, Derek Dittman, Tarvis Banks, and Grant Powell volunteered. By yesterday morning, they were assembling their gear and receiving a briefing at HQ.
Capt. Dave Beggs and Sgts. Tom Hamm, Mike Bassett, Shannon Karl, Sam Santacroce, and Danny Reitan had done some initial prep work for them, our accounting supervisor Michele Selvage had the financial arrangements in progress, and Sgt. Don Scheinost had scouted the availability of GPS devices (on sale!) in order to help our team navigate in unfamiliar territory. Sgt. Todd Beam had spent several hours after midnight getting five patrol cars outfitted with aircards, so the team could use our mobile data network on the fly, and programmed radios to provide communications. The police garage staff had prepared the vehicles and had them waiting. I love the way this department pulls together when there is a job to be done.
We sent our group of personnel off Tuesday morning with a command post location and a local Cedar Rapids PD contact person's phone number. Their mission for the next week is to help the local authorities as they can, as long as they are needed--could be a couple of days, could be a week. They can expect 12 hour shifts, foregone days off, less-than-one-star lodgings, uncertain showers, and the possibility of lots of frayed nerves and short tempers. But they will also have the gratifying experience of helping others in a big way.
The Cedar Rapids PD and other local Iowa agencies have their hands full, have been on emergency call out for a considerable time. I presume that many of these officers also have their own homes and circumstances to worry about as well. It is our honor and privilege to join the Minneappolis and St. Paul police departments, Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, and Nebraska State Patrol on this mission to help out our neighbors.
As a police sergeant in the 1980 I was one of a group of officers assigned for a similar mission after the tornadoes that devasted Grand Island, Nebraska. It was one of the best experiences of my career. We all felt good about helping out and relieving some of the stress by covering the night shift for a week. If the shoe were on the other foot, we'd want the same thing.
I shook my head at some of the early comments posted on the Lincoln Journal Star's website pertaining to this operation, which were questioning the expense and insinuating that this was some kind of boondoggle. It was gratifying to see the better angels of human nature prevail as the thread unfolded. Some people seem to quickly forget the help we received when the chips were down in Lincoln.
I immediately committed ten officers, and set about getting a detail lined up. Capt. Doug Srb, Sgt. Chris Peterson, and Sgt. Craig Price were quickly recruited, and seven additional officers, Sharon Howe, Matt Brodd, Brian Golden, Mike Muff, Derek Dittman, Tarvis Banks, and Grant Powell volunteered. By yesterday morning, they were assembling their gear and receiving a briefing at HQ.
Capt. Dave Beggs and Sgts. Tom Hamm, Mike Bassett, Shannon Karl, Sam Santacroce, and Danny Reitan had done some initial prep work for them, our accounting supervisor Michele Selvage had the financial arrangements in progress, and Sgt. Don Scheinost had scouted the availability of GPS devices (on sale!) in order to help our team navigate in unfamiliar territory. Sgt. Todd Beam had spent several hours after midnight getting five patrol cars outfitted with aircards, so the team could use our mobile data network on the fly, and programmed radios to provide communications. The police garage staff had prepared the vehicles and had them waiting. I love the way this department pulls together when there is a job to be done.
We sent our group of personnel off Tuesday morning with a command post location and a local Cedar Rapids PD contact person's phone number. Their mission for the next week is to help the local authorities as they can, as long as they are needed--could be a couple of days, could be a week. They can expect 12 hour shifts, foregone days off, less-than-one-star lodgings, uncertain showers, and the possibility of lots of frayed nerves and short tempers. But they will also have the gratifying experience of helping others in a big way.
The Cedar Rapids PD and other local Iowa agencies have their hands full, have been on emergency call out for a considerable time. I presume that many of these officers also have their own homes and circumstances to worry about as well. It is our honor and privilege to join the Minneappolis and St. Paul police departments, Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, and Nebraska State Patrol on this mission to help out our neighbors.
As a police sergeant in the 1980 I was one of a group of officers assigned for a similar mission after the tornadoes that devasted Grand Island, Nebraska. It was one of the best experiences of my career. We all felt good about helping out and relieving some of the stress by covering the night shift for a week. If the shoe were on the other foot, we'd want the same thing.
I shook my head at some of the early comments posted on the Lincoln Journal Star's website pertaining to this operation, which were questioning the expense and insinuating that this was some kind of boondoggle. It was gratifying to see the better angels of human nature prevail as the thread unfolded. Some people seem to quickly forget the help we received when the chips were down in Lincoln.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Robbery trends
Last Thursday, the Lincoln Journal Star crime beat reporter, Lori Pilger, had an appointment with me to discuss Lincoln's 2007 crime stats. The result was this article. The online version doesn't include the 1991-2007 bar chart that was in the print version, but in a nutshell, the Part 1 crime rate in Lincoln have fallen steadily since peaking in 1991. Although there was an uptick in the violent Part 1 crime rate last year, violent crime was still pretty low--in the bottom half of that time period. Since property crimes in the Uniform Crime Report overwhelm violent crimes, the small decrease in thefts resulted in a lower overall crime rate.
I told Ms. Pilger that the crime which concerned me the most was robbery. We had our fifth highest year since 1991 in that category. The article incorrectly reported that it was the second highest year on record. I was probably the only one to notice that, so it isn't a big deal. Robbery concerns me because of the risk that it poses. Holdups, home invasions, and street muggings are incredibly dangerous, and significantly impact the feeling of safety in the community. Even the news reports of such robberies make people jumpy. Many folks don't realize from the news report that the victim had just sold an ounce of pot to a customer who came back with a couple pals and a gun to get the cash and the rest of the stash.
I told Lori that my perception was that the increase was not in robberies of businesses, rather street robberies and home invasions (which are almost always drug-related ripoffs). We ran the numbers on business robberies, which showed that although they've bounced around a bit the trend line was flat. After she left, I did a little more work on other types of robbery. Here's the result (click to enlarge):
Two things stand out to me: the steady increase in robberies at residences, and the unusually low (even in the worst years) number of bank robberies. The cup's half full.
I told Ms. Pilger that the crime which concerned me the most was robbery. We had our fifth highest year since 1991 in that category. The article incorrectly reported that it was the second highest year on record. I was probably the only one to notice that, so it isn't a big deal. Robbery concerns me because of the risk that it poses. Holdups, home invasions, and street muggings are incredibly dangerous, and significantly impact the feeling of safety in the community. Even the news reports of such robberies make people jumpy. Many folks don't realize from the news report that the victim had just sold an ounce of pot to a customer who came back with a couple pals and a gun to get the cash and the rest of the stash.
I told Lori that my perception was that the increase was not in robberies of businesses, rather street robberies and home invasions (which are almost always drug-related ripoffs). We ran the numbers on business robberies, which showed that although they've bounced around a bit the trend line was flat. After she left, I did a little more work on other types of robbery. Here's the result (click to enlarge):
Two things stand out to me: the steady increase in robberies at residences, and the unusually low (even in the worst years) number of bank robberies. The cup's half full.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
CrimeMapping.com
We have a new option available to the public for mapping crime in Lincoln. CrimeMapping.com is a brand-new site created by the Omega Group for its clients. Right now, it has data for Lincoln NE, Duluth MN, and High Point NC--but this will undoutedly grow as more agencies participate.
The Omega Group is a San Diego-based provider of GIS services to police departments, fire departments, and school districts. We've been using their services and products since October, 2000. This latest addition uses a new approach: a synthesis of the carefully-geocoded data from their flagship desktop GIS product, CrimeView, displayed using the Google Maps API.
Public crime mapping is nothing new in Lincoln. We launched one of the nation's first interactive mapping applications in the spring of 1999, and our current public mapping application, CrimeView Community, is the fourth generation of our public mapping.
CrimeMapping.com has some similarities to CrimeView Community, but also some significant differences. Perhaps its greatest advantages is that is uses the highly-intuitive and well-known Google Maps interface. It has some very nice graphic design, and has a sleek look and feel. And, of course, it's multi-jurisdictional.
CrimeView Community, on the other hand, offers more control over queries, some additional reporting capabilities, more details, and the backdrop of Lincoln's more accurate and extensive geographic layers--including the latest aerial photos (Google's are several years old.)
Personally, I like both. For the moment, we'll have both available. Options are a good thing. Try CrimeMapping.com out, let me know what you think, and if you have any feedback for the developers, I'll pass it on to our friends at the Omega Group.
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