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Mayoral foes put own spin on crime

Ed Helm says crime is up. Rick Baker says it's down. So who's right? It depends on how you look at it.

By CARRIE JOHNSON
Published October 21, 2005

	Rick Baker uses city numbers to show a recent 3 percent drop.
	Ed Helm makes his case using FBI stats from 2000 and '03.
	Discuss it: It's Your Times

ST. PETERSBURG - Ominous music plays during mayoral candidate Ed Helm's television commercial as an announcer relays some grim information: Murders are up 36 percent and violent crime is four times the national average.

But ask Mayor Rick Baker about crime in St. Petersburg, and the answer is almost the opposite. He says crime overall is down this year, with violent crime dropping even further.

Public safety is a hot topic in this year's campaign for mayor and City Council. Several candidates have called for more community police officers and increased funding for the Police Department. Others defend the current system, saying the city is safer now than it has been in years.

So who's right? It depends on the statistics.

Helm based his claim that the number of murders jumped 36 percent under Baker's watch by using FBI uniform crime statistics from 2000 and 2003. There were 14 homicides in 2000. It rose to 22 in 2003.

It's undeniably an increase, but somewhat misleading. The number of murders in 2000 was an aberration, the lowest point in the last 25 years. Compare 2001, the first year Baker took office, to last year's figure and murders dropped from 21 to 19, a 9 percent decrease.

As for St. Petersburg's violent crime being four times the national average, that includes far smaller cities that don't have an inner city or the economic problems associated with larger communities.

But Baker isn't telling the whole story, either. According to figures from the Police Department, crime is down 3 percent overall and violent crime - which includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault - has dropped 11 percent as of September.

But there have been 23 homicides through September of this year, up from 14 at the same period last year.

Police Chief Chuck Harmon said it's difficult to make sweeping comparisons when the numbers are low.

"Everything has to be put into perspective," Harmon said. "There's a statistic for about anything you want to try to show."

Overall, crime has remained fairly steady over the past four years without many significant increases or decreases.

One area of concern for most candidates is the number of officers in the Police Department. St. Petersburg led police agencies statewide in attrition in 2001 and 2002. The number of departing officers continued to rise from 59 in 2003 to 63 in 2004.

In response, Baker and Harmon recommended giving officers more benefits, including take-home patrol cars and extra pay for duties such as the SWAT team. The city also created a program to give officers $14,000 interest-free loans as an incentive to live within city limits.

"I didn't do it to be nice," Baker said. "I did it because I didn't think we were competitive. It's a very competitive market for police officers right now. And I believe what we did was necessary to get us to the point where we're competitive."

Harmon and Baker say the incentives are working. While many officers remain eligible for retirement, attrition has slowed. Thirty-five officers left the department between January and August of this year, down from 50 officers in the same period last year.

But Helm said there's still a need for more officers. Like several other candidates, he is calling for a return to "community policing," where officers immerse themselves in a neighborhood.

"Community policing has become sort of a code and a symbol for "we need to do more,"' Helm said. "And I definitely believe in that."

Darden Rice, who is challenging City Council member Earnest Williams for the District 6 seat, was an early advocate for community policing. She is asking for three more officers for her district, which includes parts of downtown and Midtown.

"The people of District 6 have had a tough relationship with the Police Department," Rice said. "Having community police officers who live and work in a neighborhood is a way to strengthen a positive relationship with the police force."

Harmon has made deep cuts in the department's community policing program, largely because he believes resources would be better used targeting specific problems such as drugs or prostitution. Federal funding for the popular program also dried up in recent years.

"Community policing is something easy for people, especially in the political arena, to attach themselves to as wanting more," Harmon said. "But it's beyond me how they come up with specific numbers because we base our number on workload, geographic size and a lot of data."

William Ruefle, a University of South Florida criminology professor, said politicians tend to gravitate toward public safety issues because they are well received. But while increasing the number of officers may sound appealing, there's little to indicate how effective that would be.

"More policing is always a popular position," Ruefle said. "But what the research shows is that it's not how many police officers you have. It's how they're used."

Carrie Johnson can be reached at 727 892-2273 or cjohnson@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 21, 2005, 02:28:45]