Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: MAY 2016 37 I n California, there’s been a lot of talk about crime spikes recently. According to a re- cent article from the Mur- rieta Patch in California, cops and the D.A.’s office can’t seem to agree on the numbers. A crime statistics report recently released by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office showed that the city of Murrieta had the highest spike in crime last year among cities countywide. But that’s because the report was produced using bad numbers, according to a Murrieta police captain. The D.A.’s report showed Murrieta experienced a 26-percent hike in feder- ally classified Part I crimes — murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault, rob- bery, burglary, auto theft and larceny in 2015 when compared to 2014 figures. But here’s the problem. Murrieta police Capt. Dennis Vrooman said that the statistics reported by the D.A.’s office “were the cumulative total of the pre- liminary monthly numbers, not the finalized 2015 crime statistics the Murrieta Po- lice Department actually reported to the FBI on Feb. 22, 2016.” And here’s where bureau- cracy rears its ugly head. Frequently there’s a big difference between the pre- liminary numbers and the finalized numbers, because the preliminary numbers by law have to be reported to the FBI within 10 days of the last day of each month. Those monthly totals tend to change before they are tallied into the yearly total. That’s because a crime was reported and later de- termined to be unfounded or the crime did not occur at all or happened in another jurisdiction. The report and a news re- port about it have since been removed from the home page of the D.A.’s website. District Attorney Mike Hestrin told reporters that the report was taken down. “We are just checking numbers,” Hestrin said. “We are just reviewing them.” But while the D.A. and local law enforcement don’t agree on the numbers, they definitely agree on the cause of crime numbers going up. Many California law enforcement agencies, in- cluding the Murrieta Police Department, attribute the uptick to Assembly Bill 109 and Proposition 47. “I can’t tell you that is the sole cause; I certainly think it is a strong contributing factor to what is happen- ing,” Hestrin said. “We have taken much of the teeth out of the criminal justice sys- tem, especially on the lower end and we are reaping the results now.” The fact of the matter is, say both Hestrin and Vrooman, if you want crime to go down, there’s no get- ting around the fact that you’re going to have to “get tough on crime.” Murrieta, California is consistently ranked among the Top 10 safest cities in the U.S. for populations over 100,000. “In Murrieta violent crime has remained constant but property crime has esca- lated,” Vrooman said. D.A. and police can’t agree on crime numbers 8-bay Charging Dock The Prima Facie® body worn camera collects full motion video while combining even more advanced features; high resolution digital stills greatly enhance the documentation of crime scenes, and audio-only recording is convenient for interviews or collecting witness statements. The automatic IR illuminators allow action to be seen in total darkness, and the 2 inch LCD screen allows recorded media to be instantly reviewed. The unique two-way radio interface allows the Prima Facie to replace existing chest mounted microphones, reducing weight and bulk. Prima Facie provides all of these features without the use of constricting multi-year contracts, giving you the freedom to decide your agency’s own data management plan. Copyright © 2016 Safety Vision, LLC All Rights Reserved. Find out more today! www.safetyvision.com 800.849.9621