Statistics released by the Somerville Police Department (SPD) showed a 10 percent drop last year in serious crime in Somerville compared to the rate observed in 2010.
The statistics show the differences in Part 1 crime rates from 2009 to 2011.
Part 1 crime as defined by the SPD includes violent crime and property crime. While property crime decreased by 14 percent in 2011, violent crime actually increased by eight percent.
Property crime includes burglary – commercial and residential – and larceny – motor vehicle, non-motor vehicle, and vehicle theft. Commercial burglary and non-motor vehicle crimes were the only property crimes that increased from 2010 to 2011.
Violent crime includes homicide, rape, robbery, assault and domestic assault. All types of violent crimes saw an uptick in occurrences, except assault, which decreased by one percent. Rape was the crime that increased most last year, jumping 115 percent.
City of Somerville Director of Communications Tom Champion said the overall decrease in crime is largely due to improvements within the police force.
"Overall, the trend lines on crime in Somerville have been going down in the past few years, and it's due at least in part to a major reorganization of the [police] department and a major investment in additional training and equipment and new officers on the street," Champion said.
More rapes were reported in Somerville in 2011 than 2010 and 2009 combined. SPD Crime Analyst Frank Bates told the Somerville Patch that at least six of the rapes reported in 2011 did not happen that year and most of the reported rapes involved family members or acquaintances of the victim; there were no reported stranger rapes.
One homicide was reported in 2011. There were none in 2010 and three in 2009. The incident involved two brothers, according to a SPD report.
SPD Captain George Fazio said a combination of factors have contributed to the overall decrease in crime.
"What we always do in Somerville is directed patrol," Fazio said. "Basically when we notice an increase in activity in a particular area, we step up patrols and enforcement in that particular area."
Motor vehicle theft decreased most in 2011, falling by 37 percent from 2010 and 20 percent from 2009.
"Our officers are diligent when conducting motor vehicle stops and detecting illicit activity," Fazio said. "Because of this those looking to commit crime tend to avoid Somerville as a result of our aggressive officers."
Champion said the SPD Advisory Group made a series of recommendations that created more flexibility in officer's schedules so they can patrol areas where there is high activity.
"Several years ago [the SPD Advisory Group] made a very specific series of recommendations on how shifts assignments are made, creating an overlay of special shifts during the busiest times for the police so that they actually had extra officers on the street during those hours," Champion explained.
The SPD increased patrols in Davis Square and Porter Square after a series of indecent assaults in 2011.
"This show of presence causes the criminal element to cease their activity [and] relocate to different areas or different towns," Fazio said.
Somerville opened two new police precincts in 2009, according to Champion. He noted that the decrease in crime is built on the change within the police department.
Fazio said the SPD has partnered with the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office by providing a detective to assist with their Narcotics Task Force. This partnership adds to the presence of more police patrol in Somerville.
"Downtown, our officers focus on quality of life offenses such as persons in possession of open containers of alcohol, sleeping in benches, offensive language or disorderly persons offenses," Fazio explained.
"This keeps the downtown safe, as the officers' activity keeps the criminal element at bay and is another reason crime is down," he added.
Champion explained that in addition to the increase in police presence, demographic trends also factor into the decrease in crime.
"We have one of the best educated populations in the area in terms of residents who have four years or more of college," Champion said. "We also have an unemployment rate that is below the state average and is well below the national average."
"It is very hard to assign a specific cause and effect relationship to any of these factors, but it's clear that each of them can play a role in declining crime in an urban environment," he added.
