ANALYSIS OF NEIGHBORHOODS TAKES CLOSER LOOK AT CRIME

Database Used in Different Way to Provide Residents With Valuable
Information

Stories that offer the crime rates of Clark County's more than 90
neighborhoods aren't for everyone, including number-averse folks who
can't help yawning at the sight of the list.

And those stories sometimes draw complaints, from residents who play
the sensationalism card and say, "My neighborhood isn't that bad!"

But if you're thinking of buying a home where you plan to stay awhile,
you might want to take a look.

Clark County has neighborhoods where you might feel good about letting
your kids roam on those lazy summer afternoons, and where you might be
OK with taking a walk at night. But there are other neighborhoods that
are less safe.

Also, real-estate salespeople might use safer crime rates as selling
points.

This year, for the first time, we've changed the way we use the
complex database that comes as an e-mail from the county crime
analysis unit near the end of each year .

For several years, in our annual Portrait magazine, published in
February, we've totaled all crimes equally, about 70 of them, from
alcohol violations to welfare crimes. That system ends up with
littering carrying the same weight as kidnapping, robbery and
possessing explosives.

The Portrait method has meaning. But it creates problems, such as
generating a high crime rate for the Van Mall neighborhood, where all
those stores report a lot of bad checks and shoplifting crimes - the
cost of doing business, we've been told. But the neighborhood still is
pretty safe.

For this story, we've looked at just three serious crimes, the kind
folks might worry about. We added assaults, burglaries and drug crimes
together for each area, and calculated the rates.

Focusing on those three crimes should be interesting to readers who
might wonder, "What are the odds someone might come up behind and club
me in the head as I use the ATM outside my bank?," as happened to a
woman in Cascade Park one night not long ago.

That was an isolated case of an outrageous serious-injury assault,
though. In fact, many safe neighborhoods exist in the Cascade Park
area.

After totaling the three crimes, we calculated each neighborhood's
crime rate per 1,000 residents. Raw totals are meaningless, because
neighborhoods come in all sizes and populations. A larger area with
more people means more crimes. You expect that. Rates adjust for
population and show trends we think are valid.

But first, here are a couple of nuggets from the official
database.

How many briberies would you guess were counted in the 93 or so
official neighborhoods? None. This isn't old Chicago. Motorists here
know better than to wrap a $20 bill around their driver's license when
they hand it to the traffic cop.

Perhaps we should all feel proud about that.

Runaway kids, a big number, 1,116. That's sad, when you think what
their home life and frame of mind must be.

If you are interested in your neighborhood's crime rate, you need to
establish its name. Neighborhoods often encompass many subdivisions.
Neighborhoods generally have active associations whose volunteer
members meet, deal with local matters and issue newsletters to residents.

Call 360-487-8608 if an address is inside Vancouver's city limits. And
call 360-397-6012, ext. 2, for unincorporated county areas such as
Orchards, Hazel Dell and Salmon Creek.