Murder rate is down in Detroit

[Buttercup]

Murder rate is down in Detroit

Evans: More cases solved

BY SUZETTE HACKNEY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


In the past three months, Detroit's murder rate has dropped and homicide investigators are closing more cases, Police Chief Warren Evans said Monday.


Evans said there were 96 homicides during the third quarter of 2009, compared with 120 killings during the second quarter, a 20% decrease -- if the figures stand.
"That's significant," Evans said. "It's short-term news, but it is significant news."


Detroit officials have acknowledged that recent homicide numbers have been erroneous, mostly because of misclassifications. Earlier this year, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said more than 100 homicides were left off the books in 2008.


Even Monday there was some confusion about the figures: Mayor Dave Bing and Evans said there had been a 10% drop between the second and third quarters of this year, but the raw numbers showed a 20% decrease. Numbers in a news release also differed from those within a graphic, both of which were provided by the city.
"It is premature to make this conclusion now," Worthy said in a statement Monday about the city's newest figures.


Evans said the reduced homicide rate can be attributed to the department's efforts to get in front of crimes by identifying crime hot spots around the city and assigning 20 additional officers to the Gang Enforcement Unit.


In addition, Evans said the closure rate for homicide cases more than doubled to 60% in the third quarter compared with the first half of 2009. The closure rate at the beginning of the year was about 24%, and has averaged around 35% over the past several years, he said.


Evans said at 60%, the closure rate is more in line with the national average. He said more Detroiters are coming forward with information about homicides, and more criminals are turning themselves in.


Bing, who appointed Evans as chief in early July, said he is "encouraged by the progress," but added that "there's much more hard work in front of us."

[Jenna]

[Captain America]

Maybe they are running out of people to kill.....

[Jenna]

Maybe they are running out of people to kill.....

[MonsterMash]

Detroit officials have acknowledged that recent homicide numbers have been erroneous, mostly because of misclassifications.

How do you "misclassify" a murder? Sure, you can play with the numbers by writing up burglaries as "trespassing" to say your burglary rate is down. But murder?!?! What happens? Does an investigator up there look at a body that has 6 gunshot wounds to the back, scratch his head, and go "Thats the damndest case of suicide I ever saw?"

I smell politics.