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SIX MONTHS IN A ROW: PB CRIME DOWN AGAIN

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 11:29 PM CDT

For the sixth straight month, Pine Bluff police are reporting that overall crimes in the city have declined, as compared to a year ago.

“January was the only month that we had an increase all year,” Lt. Bob Rawlinson said while addressing the Pine Bluff Rotary Club Tuesday at the Pine Bluff Country Club.

He said reported crimes through July 31 were 4.6 percent below the same period in 2008, a factor he attributed in part to “more officers on the streets than we had last year.”

“Our retention rates have also been better and that has meant that we can patrol more neighborhoods trying to reduce daytime burglaries and thefts, which traditionally increase during the months of June, July and August,” he said.

Both burglaries and thefts went up in July when compared to earlier months this year, but Rawlinson said the increases were “not as much as I expected.”

There were 16 more burglaries in July than in June, and 15 more thefts. At the same time, there were eight fewer auto thefts reported.

“We caught eight burglars last month and we’re trying to be more pro-active now that we have more people.”

After the meeting, Rawlinson said those eight arrests were all made by the NET (Neighborhood Enforcement) team, which the department re-instituted last month.

“They’re going to be dedicated to whatever the next big crime problem is,” he said. “If that’s daytime burglaries they’re going to work on daytime burglaries and while you might not see them because they’re in unmarked cars, they’re going to be out there.”

Among the concerns members of the club had was that many people on parole or probation seem to live in Pine Bluff, and are frequently arrested for new crimes.

“Can we look at a way to get them out of here?” asked club member Lou Taylor. “What can we do to expedite their exit?”

While Rawlinson admitted he didn’t know exactly how the parole system worked, retired juvenile judge and current attorney Thomas Brown explained that each person applying for parole has to create a plan, explaining where they are going to live, and where they will work, and law enforcement agencies are notified and have the right to object before people on parole get here.

“And some of them are not actually paroled here, they just come here,” Brown said.

On another subject, Rawlinson said the department is currently working with other agencies in planning a G.I.S. (geographic information system) for the city.

“You will be able to get on the Internet and see what crimes have happened within a mile of your house, within three miles, when they’re supposed to pick up the garbage, basically anything you want to know,” he said.

Asked by club member Joe Clement what an average citizen could do to reduce crime, Rawlinson said one of the key things is to report crime and suspicious activity to police.

“We can’t be everywhere at once and we need to build partnerships within the community,” he said.

He also cited the success of the recent basketball camp sponsored by the department and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff that drew more than 250 young people.

“We didn’t expect that many and we’re already trying to figure out a way to expand it next year, and maybe have a baseball camp too, to give these kids something to do in the summer,” Rawlinson said.

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