This headline, “Homicides hit 40-year low in St. Petersburg (Fla.)” got me to thinking about Lansing’s homicides.
St. Pete’s had 11 homicides in 2009, which seems to have caught many in that city of 245,000 by surprise. I asked crack LSJ crime reporter Kevin Grasha what the 2009 figure was for the city of Lansing.
Yep, 11. And that does not include a homicide in Lansing Township that occurred one block over from a city line, he told me.
So, should we Lansing residents buy bars for our windows because our 2009 homicide count was as high as that of a city twice our size?
I say no. Homicides are not a good indicator for general public safety in that they tend to occur in specific situations -- conflicts among criminals, domestic violence situations.
Since 1999, St. Pete’s homicide count has varied from last year’s 11 to 30 in 2005 to 20 in 1999.
Lansing had 16 homicides in 2007, but only 6 in 2006.
If you go to the city-data.com site, you’ll see that the crime figures they have create a good contrast for Lansing against St. Pete. You also will see that crime in both places is on a general downward trend.
The one area where I really take issue with the LPD is found on page 32 of the department’s 2008 annual report: It closed 5,589 cases “pending further leads.” That’s down slightly from the 2007 figure, but still way too high.
This is where I think the PR battle has to be fought for this city, or any urban core. If you want to dispel the misperception that a community is crime-ridden, you need to show residents that crimes get solved. Doing a quick initial investigation and then closing a case may be practical, but it creates another resident or family who has been victimized and left to their own devices. That’s a story they’ll tend to tell others and, presto, the crime-ridden meme gains strength.
