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Monday, January 4, 2010
City’s homicides in 2009 tie for most of the decade
DAYTON - Last year’s homicide total was the highest of the decade and comes as the Dayton Police Department said its trying its best to curb gang violence and drug activity all while dwindling its force.
Forty-two people were slain in 2009, according to police data — the most since 2002, which also recorded 42 homicides, according to crime statistics compiled by the FBI.
The increase in homicides is troubling for police Chief Richard Biehl, who inherited a homicide rate of about 33 a year when he arrived from Cincinnati in early 2008.
There have been 79 homicides in the two years since his arrival.
It’s worth noting the FBI sometimes adjusts statistics reported by departments and doesn’t record self-defense homicides or officer-involved homicides, authorities said. It is possible the city’s homicides in 2009 could be slightly lower when the FBI releases its crime stats later this year.
And though numerous agencies have raised issues with the FBI’s stats over the years, they are the only measuring stick available to evaluate the country’s law enforcement agencies.
Dayton’s increase in homicides comes after Biehl orchestrated the implementation of a county-wide Community Initiative to Reduce Gun Violence program that targets gun violence among local gangs.
Law enforcement agencies began “calling in” suspected gang members currently on probation to deliver the message of swift punishment for any more crimes committed with a gun.
Those members were supposed to take that message back to their respective gang and spread it around.
It’s unclear if the message if the message is being received, though Biehl said gun violence has decreased for weeks after the gang members were called in.
Less than half of the homicides last year were gang related, according to DPD data, and there was one less gang-related homicide last year compared to 2008, Biehl said.
The motives or reasons behind the other homicides vary, though many were drug-related and a handful were committed out of domestic violence disputes.
An overwhelming majority of homicides have occurred in the city’s northwest neighborhoods, especially in the Five Oaks and Dayton View areas, which have been entrenched with gangs, prostitution and drug activity.
Just six of the city’s 42 homicides last year occurred on the city’s east side - though those areas saw increases in residential burglaries and armed robberies last year.
The challenge for Biehl and new Mayor Gary Leitzell will be doing more to bring down the homicide rate with less personnel. A record number of police and firefighters are set to walk out the door in the next two years because of retirement.
Biehl has said his department plans to be at 350 officers in the coming years, down from more than 390 it has now.
The chief is wrangling with the brain drain and is considering a complete overhaul of the department’s five districts, examining decades-old patrol practices and moving sergeants and lieutenants from the downtown headquarters to district offices.
He has to do all that while taking directives from city commissioners and Leitzell, who are doing their own wrangling of an estimated $20 million budget deficit.
“Everything is on the table,” Biehl said.
TweetKroger, Circle K among businesses robbed most in 2009
DAYTON - The Kroger Grocery Store on S. Smithville Road, the Circle K at 1918 E. Fifth St. and the Family Dollar at 440 N. James J. McGee Blvd. were businesses hit the most by robbers in 2009, according to Dayton Police Department data.
Those stores were reportedly robbed four times last year by both armed and unarmed suspects. A handful of stores were robbed at least three times last year including:
- Rite Aid pharmacy, 1431 Wayne Ave
- Sunoco gas station, 1502 Wayne Ave.
- Shell gas station, 1951 Stanley Ave.
- The Family Dollar Store, 2198 N. Gettysburg Ave.
- Rite Aid pharmacy, 2916 Linden Ave.
We didn’t cover every robbery last year, but one of the most notable occurred at the Kroger at 1024 S. Smithville Road in July.
One man was arrested and another escaped after they tried to rob the store, but instead were confronted by an an off-duty Dayton police officer, who fired a shot at one of the assailants, police said.
The officer, who was providing security for the store, fired a short after one of the gunmen jumped over the customer service counter and started to rob the cashier, police said.
The man who fled was identified and later arrested by police.
And more than half these businesses listed above are on the city’s east side, which also saw a marked uptick in residential burglaries last year.
TweetBeauty shop worker turns shotgun on would-be robber
DAYTON - A knife-wielding, would-be robber is in Montgomery County Jail after a beauty shop owner chased him from the store with a shotgun Saturday, Jan. 2.
Workers at the Hair Gold Beauty Supply, 4011 W. Third St., flagged down Officer Erica S. Cash about 2 p.m. by yelling, “Robber! Robber!,” according to a police report.
Cash raced up Gettysburg Avenue where she saw Lawrence Hahn running after William Chinn, the report stated. Cash caught up with Chinn, 19, who said he was “sorry” and wanted to apologize to Hahn and the shop’s owner Hae J. Kim for trying to rob their store, the report stated.
Kim said Chinn walked into the store with a red bandanna on his face and demanded money with a knife in his hand, the report stated. Kim said he grabbed a shotgun kept in the store and pointed it at Chinn, the report stated.
Chinn fled, but Kim and Hahn chased him and that’s when they flagged down the officer, the report stated.
Chinn said he needed money and was tired of his family supporting him, the report stated. He was scheduled to appear in court at 9:30 a.m. today, Monday, Jan. 4, according to jail records.
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