Outline of Presentation
Cumberland Crime Patterns
Neighborhood Advisory Commission
Neighborhood Summit
May 21, 2005
http://www.AdventureGovernment.com
• Neighborhood Advisory Commission
Discussions
• Trends over time in crime
• Repeat offenders and “problem properties”
• Relationship between building tenure/type and
crime
• Relationship between problem properties and
property maintenance
• Geographical patterns of crime in Cumberland
and crime “hotspots”
• Crime and Public Policy (What we can do)
Neighborhood Advisory
Commission Discussions
• Discussions have centered on crime and code
enforcement issues
• Crime issues
Trends in Crime
Juvenile curfew laws
Anti-Loitering laws
Gang activity
Ways to conduct a crime watch
Procedures for enforcing property maintenance/nuisance codes
Multiple offense/”problem properties”
Use of municipal infraction laws for crime properties
Excessive noise and foul language
Guest speakers have included Police Chief and Lieutenants, City
Solicitor, State’s Attorney, Community Development Staff
Uniform Crime Reports,
Cumberland 1985-2003
Cumberland Crime Trend
8,000.00
8,000.00
7,000.00
7,000.00
6,000.00
6,000.00
5,000.00
5,000.00
Total
Violent
Property
4,000.00
3,000.00
4,000.00
Actual
Trend--19 year
Trend 10 year
3,000.00
2,000.00
2,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
0.00
0.00
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
19
85
19
87
19
89
19
91
19
93
19
95
19
97
19
99
20
01
20
03
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
1
Uniform Crime Reports, Total
Offenses
Uniform Crime Reports, Crime
Composition
1800
1800
1600
1600
Motor Vehicle Theft
1400
1400
Larceny-theft
1200
1200
Burglary
1000
1000
800
600
800
Aggravated Assault
600
Robbery
400
400
Forcible Rape
200
200
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
Local Crime Rate Comparisons
8,000.00
19
85
19
87
19
89
19
91
19
93
19
95
19
97
19
99
20
01
20
03
0
0
Regional Crime Rate Comparisons,
2003
Cumberland
7,000.00
Winchester, VA
6,000.00
5,000.00
Cumberland
County w/o Cumberland
Maryland
Frostburg
4,000.00
3,000.00
2,000.00
Hagerstown, MD
Johnstown, PA
Frederick, MD
1,000.00
Altoona, PA
19
85
19
88
19
91
19
94
19
97
20
00
20
03
0.00
0
CDS Arrests, Allegany County
600
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
Juvenile Arrests
700
500
600
400
500
300
200
400
100
300
Cocaine/Opium
2001
All Drugs
Cocaine/Opium
2002
1999
2000
1997
1998
1995
200
1996
1993
1994
1991
1992
1990
0
100
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2
Crime Concentration Stats
Repeat Offenders and
“Problem Properties”
• “National studies indicate
that more than 50% of
violent crime occurs at
about 3% of addresses.”
City of Cumberland
Police Department
website
• <1% of Cumberland
addresses account for
12% of serious reports
and 23% of CDS reports.
Repeated Incident Properties
ADDRESS
739 Park St
616 Sedgwick St
500 Greenway Ave
3 Pershing St
200 Massachusetts Ave
400 Maryland Ave
909 Holland St
314 Frederick St
1415 River Ave
527 Henderson Ave
500 Memorial Ave
625 N. Centre St
600 Memorial Ave
110 Pennsylvania Ave
900 Seton Dr
1 Frederick St
1050 Industrial Blvd
210 Greene St
357 Bedford St
205 Baltimore Ave
50 Queen City Dr
216 Cecelia St
300 Arch St
823 Shawnee Ave
409 Greene St
215 Park St
301 Baltimore Ave
620 Columbia Ave
124 Virginia Ave
#
127
81
74
73
68
62
55
50
49
40
34
34
33
29
28
27
27
25
23
21
21
20
20
20
19
18
17
17
16
DESCRIPTION
Martins Supermarket
Allegany High School
Fort Hill High School
District Court House
Washington Middle School
RGs
Braddock Middle School
Benjamin Baneker
Brewskis
LVs Pub
Memorial Hospital
RGs
Memorial Hospital
RENTAL
Sacred Heart
Department of Social Services
Sheetz
Sheetz
RENTAL
YMCA Gilchrest Center
Value City
OWNER OCCUPIED
RENTAL
RENTAL
RENTAL
U.S. Postal Service
RENTAL
Christy's Pub
RENTAL
Repeated Incident Properties
• One property owner who resides in Northern
Virginia owns two properties in “Top 30”
• The two properties generated 39 serious calls
and 47 total calls
• Both properties have registered rental units.
One of the residents has a section 8 voucher
• The property owner has 9 additional properties
in town. These other properties generated 29
police calls.
• None of the properties are registered as rental
units
Tenure and Crime
•
Use Police Department Incident Report Data and Fire Department Call data
•
Property View (Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation Data)
– Provides information on incident, nature of incident, location of incident, status of
incident (e.g., closed, arrest, open, suspended)
– Provides information about property characteristics/owner characteristics
Building Tenure and Crime
• Owner occupied not owner occupied
• Commercial use, residential use
• Address of Owner
– Use information to distinguish ownership
• Commercial unit, owner-occupied home, rental home (local owner), rental home (nonlocal owner), subsidized housing
•
•
Match records in Property View (Maryland Department of Assessments and
Taxation Data)
Coverage is only partial (20%) for police and fire (35%).
– Many records could not be matched because addresses in departmental
databases are incomplete (75%)
– The remaining records could not be matched because addresses were not in the
same format
3
Tenure and Crime
Incidents Concentration by Tenure
3.5
% percentage of total
70
60
3
50
2.5
40
2
Incidents
Buildings
30
1.5
20
1
10
0.5
0
Commercial
Owner
occupied
In town
owner/Not
owner
occupied
Benjamin
Banecker
Out of town
owner/Not
owner
occupied
0
Other
Commercial
Incidents Concentration by Tenure
II
In town
Out of town
owner/Not
owner/Not
owner occupied owner occupied
Other
Incidents Concentration by Tenure
III
3.5
600
3
500
2.5
Owner occupied
400
2
300
1.5
200
1
100
0.5
0
0
Commercial Taverns
Owner
In town
Benjamin Out of town
occupied owner/Not Banecker owner/Not
owner
owner
occupied
occupied
Commercial Taverns
Other
Other
CDS Arrests by Tenure
Arrests Concentration by Tenure
2.5
2.5
2
2
1.5
1.5
1
1
0.5
0.5
0
Owner
In town Benjamin Out of town
occupied owner/Not Banneker owner/Not
owner
owner
occupied
occupied
0
Commercial
Owner occupied
In town
Out of town
owner/Not
owner/Not
owner occupied owner occupied
Other
Commercial
Owner occupied
In town
Out of town
owner/Not
owner/Not
owner occupied owner occupied
Other
4
Fire Calls by Tenure
2.5
Problem Properties and
Property Maintenance
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Commercial
Owner occupied
In town
Out of town
owner/Not
owner/Not
owner occupied owner occupied
Other
Building Conditions
Building Conditions by Tenure
• Maryland Department of Assessments and
Taxation Quality of construction code
– 1 Low cost
– 2 Economy
– 3 Fair
– 4 Average
– 5 Good
– 6 Very Good
– 7 Excellent
3.6
3.5
3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1
3
Owner Occupied
In town not owner
occupied
Out of town owner -not owner occupied
Building Conditions by Tenure
3.6
Geographical Patterns of
Crime
3.5
3.4
3.3
No arrests
Arrests
3.2
3.1
3
2.9
Owner Occupied
In town not owner Out of town owner -occupied
not owner occupied
5
Neighborhood Association
Boundaries
Geo-coded Crime Data
• Obtained addresses from police incident report database
• Over 40,000 incident reports filed
• 3,413 total “arrests”
– 1,486 had specific addresses
– 712 addresses were “assigned” based on physical description or
business name
– Remaining were street only or
• 2,444 (72%) addresses were geo-coded by ARCGIS
(ESRI software)
• Coordinates were projected onto map
• Coordinates were input into Crime Statistical Analysis
Software called CrimeStat II to identify crime “hotspots”
CHWNA
UWS-CAN
SCBCA
DHCG
CRIMA
Geography of Incidents Reports
Geography of Arrests
Geography of Arrests II
Geography of Arrests III
6
Arrest Hotspots
Arrest Hotspots II
CDS Hotspots
Disturbance Hotspots
Fire Calls
Housing Conditions
7
Registered Sex Offenders
Conclusions
Conclusions
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Crime and crime rate has increased over the last 20 years; the trend in
crime rate is upward. The opposite is true of the State of Maryland.
The Crime rate in Cumberland is higher than all regional cities of our size.
Crime has increased over 20 year period because of increased assaults
(domestic), larcenies, and other crime categories
Violent crime has stabilized in last decade and decreased.
Drug problem is increasing; this includes cocaine and opiates
Certain “problem properties” generate a disproportionate percentage of
police calls and arrests
Out of town owned properties generate a disproportionate percentage of
police calls and arrests
There seems to be a problem with rental registration compliance; may be a
problem with section 8 contract compliance.
Problem residences are not as “nice” as other residential properties
Arrests are disproportionately occurring in certain areas of town (“hotspots”)
– 4 of 5 neighborhood associations host these 5-6 hotspots. The others are
in City Center/North End
Policy Options
Policies
• Need comprehensive
strategy—not just law
enforcement
–
–
–
–
Prevention
Detection
Information
Penalties
Prevention
• Prevention
– Enhancing existing code
enforcement*
– Verifying apartment
registrations and
compliance with codes*
– HUD Section 8 voucher
contract enforcement*
– Promoting
homeownership*
– Examining/preventing the
conversion of single-family
residences to rental use
– Adding drug/crime
addendums to lease
agreements
8
Detection
• Adding Surveillance
Cameras*
• Neighborhood Watch
(increase coverage
and effectiveness)
Information
• Information
– Media campaign*
– Neighborhood
Association/Crime
Watch Notification*
– Landlord Notification
– Mortgager Notification
– Landlord Property
Management
Education
Penalties
• Penalties
– Create city ordinance
requiring owners to
address conditions that
foster crime/drug markets
on private property
– Asset forfeiture for
properties used by drug
dealers
– Landlord licensure
– Stronger penalties for
repeated municipal
infractions
– Neighborhood Civil Action
– Crack down on problem
taverns
9