The Federal Bureau of Investigation released statistics early in January that showed a decrease in violent crime nationwide as well as in the city of Madison for the first six months of 2007.
According to the FBI data, violent crime rates fell 1.8 percent nationwide from January to June. Comparatively, Madison saw a 15.6 percent drop in violent crime throughout the city.
The FBI classifies violent crime into four categories: murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. The national data was compiled from regional statistics submitted to the FBI from across the country.
“Violent crime is down significantly in the city overall, which is good news for our community,” said Mayor Dave Cieslewicz in statement regarding the data.
“That said, we can’t rest on our laurels or pretend that we have solved this issue. Improving public safety is a long-term commitment and we can’t relax based upon good results for a single year,” Cieslewicz said.
The 2008 city budget will continue to address the issue of safety by adding an additional 30 police officers to patrol the community in the New Year.
According to Madison police spokesperson Joel DeSpain, the new officers will begin training at the police academy in the near future. Most of the officers will be on the streets in 2009, but some could be active as early as this year.
“The police department here has always prided itself on being proactive and progressive and really trying to get at the root of things before things get out of control,” DeSpain said.
DeSpain added the new officers will help strengthen community police teams that address specific issues in each district of the city.
“In the central district we’ve had the community police team working a lot with the level of intoxication in the downtown area,” DeSpain said of policing efforts around the university. He hopes that the community and police department can work together to continue to lower crime throughout Madison in 2008.
“We’re very pleased to see low serious crime numbers, but I never like to base everything on numbers,” DeSpain said.
