It’s April, 2017, and crime rates are plummeting all over the globe. Since that statement directly contradicts what most of you are told by the media on a daily basis, I’ve appended a current example below to support it.
The title of the article hedges by saying " Homicide lull, drop in crime is progress ", where " lull " implies it will crank right back up again. When it’s been dropping steadily since 1991.
The subhead tee’s up the local, micro-level Plausible Deniability excuses: " Gang arrests, End Gun Violence initiative making an impact so far this yea r"
Those thing are real, and actual, but don’t take into account or mention the larger drops in crime being seen elsewhere across the globe, all in places where no ‘end gun violence’ initiative is taking place.
The article starts out with three Death-documentations, a “yes set” of three, to get your mind programmed on Death, fear and negativity.
But they can’t stop the truth:
" But in the time since Jackson’s death — the rest of March and two weeks into April of this year — Savannah has not had a homicide, making that the longest period without one since April 2014. And other numbers are demonstrating a gradual drop in crime. March’s total violent crime was down by about 5 percent from February, and violent crime is down 15 percent compared to this point last year, according to the latest SCMPD crime numbers ."
The world that reporters in every city in every nation on Earth write hedging articles in various languages in is changing, forever. And all those hedging reporters, and the people they work for, they’re not changing. They do the same things, think the same way, work the same game.
It’s not a “lull”, as they hopefully suggest. It is, rather, a “disappearance”, something we’ve all apparently collectively decided not to do, like three martini lunches, or chain-smoking in the hallway outside the baby nursery at the hospital.
It doesn’t take me long to find these stories, each day, and, have you noticed, they’re not stopping?
The establishment media accounts are studiously ignoring the trend. I’ve been documenting both the trend and its formulaic treatment in this thread for over three years, now.
Because a trend is for the moment ignored does not negate the fact that it’s a trend.
I think ignoring trends is unwise, and ultimately self-negating.
April 15, 2017 - Georgia - Savannah officials: Homicide lull , drop in crime is progress
Gang arrests, End Gun Violence initiative making an impact so far this year
On March 6, 16-year-old Kevin Jackson was shot and killed on Crosby Street.
The day before, it was Saundra Thomas , 47, on East 34th Street.
On March 1, it was Lenoxki Smith , 33, on Oak Forest Drive.
It was shaping up to be the kind of month Savannah has become accustomed to. Jackson was the 10th homicide in the Savannah-Chatham police jurisdiction in 2017, and Savannah was outpacing its 2016 homicide rate — there were only seven homicides by March 6 last year.
Last year, Savannah-Chatham police investigated 50 homicides in its jurisdiction, and they recorded 53 in 2015. T hese were the bloodiest two years for Savannah since the early 1990s, when the Ricky Jivens Gang terrorized the streets.
But in the time since Jackson’s death — the rest of March and two weeks into April of this year — Savannah has not had a homicide, making that the longest period without one since April 2014. And other numbers are demonstrating a gradual drop in crime. March’s total violent crime was down by about 5 percent from February, and violent crime is down 15 percent compared to this point last year, according to the latest SCMPD crime numbers.
The three early March shooting homicides are on par with February’s total, but robberies are down 31 percent from February, and aggravated assaults are down 25 percent. The only Part I crimes that increased from February to March were rape and auto theft. Four rapes were reported in March compared to only one in February, and March’s auto theft total increased by three from February’s 72.
The lull in homicides is a welcome relief for the Savannah-Chatham police. In the 21 calendar months since July 2015, Savannah has maintained an average of 4.52 homicides per month. The average for the 21-month period before July 2015 was 2.85. The bloodiest calendar month came in October 2015, where police investigated 11 homicides.
Savannah-Chatham police chief Joseph Lumpkin said he attributes the recent drop in gun violence to good policing and community help.
“I believe the reduction in homicides and shootings is directly related to the hard work of all my officers, staff, our law enforcement partners and members of this community,” Lumpkin said. “We believe the totality of our endeavors as well as the vital efforts of our local, state and federal partners are making a positive difference in this community’s safety and lowering our overall violence rate. We are also working to establish a trusting, ‘shared responsibility’ relationship with all law abiding people in every neighborhood.”
Metro investigated 12 fewer aggravated assaults with guns in March than in February, which Lumpkin said plays heavily into the homicide count.
“Our focus is not just on reducing homicides but also shootings. In some cases, a millimeter may be the difference in a homicide versus an aggravated assault, it just depends on the path of the bullet.”
Lumpkin is right. Since 2013, the average number of homicides in Savannah per year has been, on average, 17.48 percent of total aggravated assaults with guns for that year.
End Gun Violence: Step Forward
Metro’s answer to the rise in violent crime is its End Gun Violence: Step Forward initiative.
The initiative is a program that utilizes both local and federal resources to crack down on group and gang violence with a focus on neighborhood outreach. It targets the most violent members of groups and gangs — the ones responsible for a majority of the shootings and homicides in the city.
Though the Jivens Gang’s heyday has long since passed, Savannah still has an active gang community. Police spokeswoman Michelle Gavin said police are currently investigating 43 groups and 21 gangs in Savannah, and 60 percent of crime in 2016 was committed by gangs or groups.
End Gun Violence uses intelligence-led policing to hunt down the small group of individuals who commit the majority of violent crime.
“Our outstanding SCMPD police officers and their local, state and federal partners are utilizing Intelligence Led Policing principles to focus on these violent perpetrators. Intelligence-led policing is using specific intelligence to go after specific individuals with a laser focus who are involved in gangs, groups and gun violence,” Lumpkin said. “We target individuals, not communities or neighborhoods.”
End Gun Violence puts the “laser focus” on the most violent criminals, while giving minor offenders a chance to straighten up and fly right. Metro hosts call-ins, during which suspected offenders and their associates are urged to behave or face the consequences — being a member of the same gang or group as someone who commits gun violence can also result in charges.
Metro arrested 13 gang members from the Gangster Disciples on March 3. These arrests, which included charges ranging from murder to drug sales, came after police warned members and those affiliated with the gang to not cause social harm or participate in gun violence when the gang was called in on Nov. 1.
Seven days later, a member of the Gangster Disciples shot and killed another member, and police made the arrests.
“We are not only locking up violent criminals, but our commanders are meeting with the influencers of gang and group members,” Lumpkin said. “We urge those influencers — mothers, fathers, spouses, siblings, grandparents, etc. — to convince group and gang members to step away from the violence and life of crime.”
In March 2016, metro, along with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives cracked down on violence and gang activity in Cann Park. The last of these 22 individuals were convicted in federal court on April 10.
Acting U.S. Attorney Jim Durham said on Monday that federal resources, working with state and local law enforcement, targeted the Cann Park neighborhood, where he said a very small group was committing violent crimes and engaging in gang activities.
Violent crime rates have fallen sharply in the Cann Park neighborhood since the March 2016 arrests and prosecutions, Durham said. Violent crime has dropped by 40 percent, aggravated assaults with a gun are down by 75 percent and “shots fired” calls to police have fallen by half.
Looking ahead
City officials say the turnaround in crime rates is the result of a long haul — one that is far from over. As the summer approaches, officials say there are new challenges.
“I think that public engagement coupled with a full staff police department has definitely made an impact,” said Savannah Alderman Van Johnson. “These are seeds that we started planting two years ago and they are starting to materialize… But I am cautiously optimistic because we know that there is still a fight…
“The challenge is that we know crime is prevalent in some communities more than others. So we need to make sure that we increase our efforts in those areas and utilize data-driven approaches.”
Savannah Mayor Eddie DeLoach, who ran on a crime-crackdown platform, says the crime rate drop is only the beginning.
“The crime rate going down is a combination of things with having enough officers in place, End Gun Violence and people having jobs,” DeLoach said. “There has been the task force that concentrates in isolating in those people engaging in ‘risky behavior.”
“We are going to continue doing whatever the chief needs to bring crime done. We are going to keep supporting him and follow the city manager’s lead.”
And that includes finding funding for more law enforcement, DeLoach said. The city is undergoing a Berkshire study to “get a better handle on crime numbers that is needed in town and unincorporated Chatham,” he said.
“This is so that we can see build some kind of budget and something on the long-term,” he said. “We’re expecting to see those results soon.”
But the fight for police resources is nothing new. April 2016 was the first time in nearly two decades that the department had been fully staffed with about 600 officers, easing the case load for detectives and putting more manpower on the streets after a long standing period of “aggressive recruiting,” Lumpkin said.
And with summer only weeks away, keeping crime numbers down will mean keeping the city’s youth busy, DeLoach said.
“That’s why we started the Summer 500 program,” he said. “I was a kid at one time and I had a lot of idle time, so I know it’s easy to get in trouble. So we need to do what we can do to get kids busy by getting them in a place in the private sector any business in Savannah.”
SCMPD CRIME NUMBERS
… Percentage
… Aggravated … of homicides
… assaults … Homicides … per assault with guns
… with gun
2013 … 160 … 30 … 18.7 percent
2014 … 198 … 32 … 16.1 percent
2015 … 305 … 53 … 17.3 percent
2016 … 280 … 50 … 17.8 percent
2017* … 63 … 10 … 15.8 percent
*So far this year
