I want to start this by saying I have nothing but the utmost respect for the men and women in law enforcement. I've heard the NETS people are out in force on Gaines along with the mobile precint. The Police that patrol our streets are overworked and underappreciated. With that said I offer my opinion.
Chief Bladel claims we need more Police personnel to stop the rising crime rate. We have all heard how his department is the only one in Iowa, and the Country, to report crimes the way his does. 'This is why our rate looks higher than it really is' according to him. He obviously hasn't been reading up on how reporting is done. According to the FBI, all departments report the same way. Nowhere on the official FBI webpage does it say- except Davenport, Iowa, which reports differently.
Putting the politics aside, I have some real figures. In a survey of 18 midwest cities, ranging in population from 22,804 up to 412,126 we have exactly the average number of Police to citizen ratio. The average of these cities is 1 Police for 621 citizens. Right where Davenport is. Cedar Rapids, which has around 23,000 more residents than Davenport, has 1 Police for 639 citizens. Not much of a difference you say? Last year with 23,000 more residents Cedar Rapids had 1 murder; Davenport had 7. Iowa City with 63,280 residents has 1 Police for every 904 residents, with a lower crime rate. And a real kicker to me; in the figures Chief Bladel's department sent to the FBI, we have only 25 less Police personnel than Cedar Rapids, and they have 23,000 more residents. So are we short of personnel or management? So if someone could explain why people are buying this to someone with an IQ over room temperature and an ability to think for oneself, please do. Your comments are welcome.
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15 comments:
Different demographics. Race, income, and levels of education play a part in the big picture. No one town is ever like another, no matter what the numbers show. If putting a speed and stop light camera on each corner gets us more and better prepared officers, then lets start putting them in.
We should start to charge the landlords who rent tot eh criminals and see that we will have a different world here in Davenport. Put the slumlords out of business.
Anybody that thinks it is a landlord problem is a bit wacky, to say the least. The criminals that do the bad stuff need to get popped. Bladel won't let more then 11 cops on the street at any given time. I bet Lynn's angels will make a difference.
Whoever is making excuses as to why Davenport has it much worse then Cedar Rapids has it all wrong. Check the 2000 demographics, which are published on the web. Davenport's population and even income are very close to Cedar Rapids. But, Cedar Rapids is not afraid to put more cops on the street, even though they have less cops per citizen then Davenport. Bladel keeps them all locked up in his building, and that is according to the police union themselves, not some innocent bystander. That is why Bladel lacks a vote of confidence from his force. The union even wanted to come support the Angels meeting but Bladel stopped them.
Davenport is 83.7% white
Cedar Rapids is 91.9% white
There is only a difference of 8.2% in the minority populations.
Davenport's median income is $37,242
Cedar Rapids median income is $43,704
There is only a difference of 6.2% in income.
Everything is about the same, except we have Bladel. The Angels would even this out quite a bit.
Davenport needs the Angels
The numbers may be close but you still can't compare. Davenport is Davenport and "there's no place like home." We have our own personality and set of problems as does Cedar Rapids. This city doesn't need bean counters, we have Dee B. and Ald Lynn and look what thats got us. Lets STOP comparing and start preparing to take care of business here at home.
And yes, I believe that rental property in Davenport is a major souce of our crime and blight problems. Take notice of address where these thugs that commit crimes live and where crime is more previlant...rental housing. Landlords need to be held accountable for who they put in these units and how they conduct business. If we close down and board up houses to fight crime, so be it. This will send a valid notice that the city means business! Tally Ho to the new NEO. go get 'um boys!!!!
Just to throw this out there, Davenport is also part, and some would say the "main city" of a bigger metro area than those mentioned. If we're the "place to be" for criminals from our 400,000 person metro, that makes a difference too. I don't know if that's true though, or just my Davenport-bias talkin'.
I would challenge Cruiser and 12:04 to get the data on renters versus homeowners. You will probably find that D'Port's numbers are higher and it would be plausible to infer that lower income, as well as people with less at stake in their neighborhoods could be a real factor in determining crime rates.
QCI also makes a valid point. Even if you assume that we have the same rate of people who are criminals in our population, the same number of cops in D'Port have to deal with all the other criminals that come here to "do business" from other cities in the QC.
Yes but you are missing another point, which is there are police departments in all of the other cities, so the aggregate number of police is indeed balanced out.
2:20 pm is missing the boat, but it is kind of funny. Many crack houses are owner occupied, some with City loans! Regardless, if you want to really solve the problem, hold the people accountable that actually commit the crimes.
QCI and anon @ 4:15 ,
Then by your thinking Des Moines would also have to include West
Des Moines and Perry; and Cedar Rapids would have to include Marion and Iowa City. Doesn't wash. While I'll agree all cities are different, they also have similarities. Some of us have posted the relation of crime to single parent families, crime to poverty level, and crime to places like Horizon Homes, Castlewood and Goose Creek that place all of the above in a concentrated area. All of which Davenport has in abundance. As I've said all along there are many variables; but most experts agree that single parent families, povery, and low education are the main causes of crime. I'm not blaming anyone, but I am saying we need to do something.
I , being a scanner bum, hear it first hand were the crime is. 12-7 the scanner is on and I can tell you that crime doesn't take a rest. 95% of the "calls for service" come from rental units, ie apt #'s.
you don't need to do a study to know where the crime is, all you have to do is listen.
As for crack houses, you really don't have a clue, do you? Crack is being manufactured in apartments, garages, basements, vans and autos, and even hotel rooms, remember the Mississippi Hotel? There is no way of knowing where the next one will spring up but I can tell you that a large majority of operations happen in rental units, just ask Scott Sievert, Davenport Police Department.
Who knows, maybe your tenants are making a batch as we speak 5:08.
We can show that the majority of the crime is commited at or around rentals by renters and guests of renters. DUH!?! Keep denying that the crack landlords aren't the problem and we will keep living in this ghetto we call Davenport. Crime capital of the midwest. Slum rental capital of the midwest.
Boy, I don't need to add to this conversation, I believe folk are catching on to the root of the problems in Davenport....Rental Slumlords not being accountable! This must change for the good of our city.
Actually, we are mixing jargon when we say landlords are currently not being held accountable. Yes they are... for both code violations (which is all that NEO can do anyway) and for criminal violations under the nuisance ordinance (which is processed through the PD and the legal department). The nuisance ordinance allows the City to order an eviction, and the landlord has to comply. It has been done successfully several times, but it is a cumbersome legal process, and a conviction is really necessary to make it stick in the first place. That gets back to the main point. Rather then looking to "solve" the problem by beating up on landlords (which is nothing more then a hypothetical situation most of the time), lets start going after the people that are actually doing the crimes. That is why the Guardian Angels will be such a big help in this town.
To quote Ronald Reagan, it is time to get back to the basic American precept that each individual is responsible for his or her own actions.
The tools are in place, but even the nuisance ordinance falls apart if there is no grounds for eviction. The police must make arrests, the criminals prosecuted, and then (and only then) can the landlord evict.
2:32 you need to go to the Crime Free Multi Housing program and have the wool pulled off your eyes. Best $25 bucks you'll ever spend. Then talk to a few landlords who know how to write a lease that protects the landlord.
Ah, been there and done that, but therein lies the rub. Not all landlords want to use the exact same type of lease, and it is illegal to require a specific lease for all landlords. I use a damn good lease, but there was nothing suggested at the Crime Free Multi Housing program that would allow me to magically get rid of a tenant without a conviction unless they failed to pay rent.
We need to all get real about this. The problem is not with the landlords, because bad tenants or even property owners will always find a place to exist. The problem is in convicting the people doing the bad deeds. The other poster had it right. It is time to hold people responsible for their own actions!
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