BELLEVILLE CRIME UP 6.3% IN '09; POLICE SAY DRUG OFFENSES A BIG CONCERN

BELLEVILLE -- Following the release of annual crime statistics, police
say growth in crime in the city slowed down last year.

It was up overall 6.3 percent from 2008, but it had grown by at least
10 percent each of the previous four years.

Mirroring a national trend, reports of several types of crime were
down -- criminal sexual assault by just more than 40 percent; robbery
by 11.5 percent; and aggravated assault and battery by 19 percent.

But drug offenses were up dramatically -- 17.5 percent overall, to 329
incidents.

"That's not a good trend," Police Chief William Clay said. "That's
drug use."

Of particular concern to Clay are cocaine, heroin, and
methamphetamine. With a rise in use of those types of drugs comes an
increase in other crimes -- anything from property crime to violence
and prostitution, when things get really bad.

He doesn't know what's causing the spike, and he said options for new
tools to fight drug crimes are limited because of the city's tight
budget.

The department last week began using signs placed in the public
streets to point out suspected drug houses. The department also has
started sending letters to landlords and neighbors when they arrest
someone for drug sales. Also, the City Council in October voted to
increase the city's towing fee from $200 to $500 for those arrested
for felonies and some misdemeanors, including possession of small
amounts of marijuana, which usually does not result in jail time.

The decreases in some crimes may be because of stepped-up patrolling,
particularly near shopping centers, nightlife spots, and west-end businesses.

"It could be any number of things," Clay said. "We've got a
hard-working department. I'm sure their efforts have contributed to
some of the declines."

Arthur Lurigio, professor of psychology and criminal justice at Loyola
University Chicago said national crime rates haven't been this low
since the 1960s.

"These data challenge the perception that crime increases during
economic downturns," he wrote in an e-mail.

Richard Rosenfeld, a professor and criminologist at the University of
Missouri-St. Louis, specializes in the social sources of violent
crime, crime statistics and crime control policy. He said a possible
explanation for a drop in most crime nationally is the lessening of
opportunities for criminals. For example, unemployed people are at
home during the day, and most burglars like to strike when no one is
there.

Also, Rosenfeld said, the federal expansions of the food stamp program
and unemployment benefits "can buffer people from the effects of a
recession," he said.

However, he warned, "If this recession outlasts the stimulus, then I
would expect increases."

Both crime experts agree that Belleville's cracking down on drugs
could account for the increased reported numbers.

Lurigio also said it could mean the nature of drug sales in the city
is changing in a way that makes it easier for police to uncover drug
use and crime. Rosenfeld said Belleville's increases could be
recession-related, and that if they are, they may mark what's to come
for other cities in the United State.

While there was one homicide in Belleville in 2008, there were two
last year. Robert Bunn Sr., 69, who was found dead Jan. 13, 2009, from
a bullet wound to the head. He hadn't realized he'd received the
bullet five days earlier during a home invasion. No one has been
charged in that case. In the second killing, on March 23, police say
15-year-old Onyx Large IV stabbed to death his grandmother,
68-year-old Georgie "Polly" Large. Contact reporter Laura Girresch at
lgirresch@bnd.com or 239-2507.