but violent incidents rise
Jon Campbell • Journal Albany bureau • May 29,
2010
ALBANY — As the economy declined in recent years,
some crime experts expected the state’s crime rate
to increase. But recent statistics show that wasn’t the
case.
And as crime has dropped overall, another trend
has developed: The majority of incidents have
shifted from New York City to other areas in the
state.
Violent and property crimes were down in most
counties across the state over the past decade,
according to statistics from the state Division of
Criminal Justice Services.
Meanwhile, in 1990, New York City accounted for 63
percent of crimes in the state. But by last year, the
numbers had nearly flipped — 43 percent of the
crime was in the city, and 58 percent was in the rest
of the state.
Crime experts say the lower rates are due to
bolstered police efforts across the state —
particularly in New York City — and that led to the
shift in crime from the city to the suburbs and
upstate.
“I think that’s attributed mostly to the quality of
criminal justice and the quality of policing, and the
increasing use of some powerful analytic tools that
weren’t able to be used before,” said John Klofas,
chair of criminal justice at the Rochester Institute of
Technology.
Mid-Hudson Valley
From 2008 to 2009, total crime in Dutchess County
fell by nearly 10 percent, but the number of violent
crimes increased by 1.4 percent, according to
statistics from the state Division of Criminal Justice
Services.
In 2008, 6,494 crimes were reported in Dutchess
County. That figure fell to 5,873 crimes reported in
2009, according the crime statistics report.
robbery and assault — rose from 886 crimes in
2008 to 898 in 2009 in Dutchess County.
In Ulster County, the opposite was true.
The number of total crimes rose by 5.9 percent from
3,665 incidents in 2008 to 3,883 in 2009,
according to the crime statistics. But the number of
violent crimes fell by 2.8 percent, from 458 in 2008
to 445 in 2009.
Future crime?
Even still, some worry that a reduction in manpower
for police forces caused by the state’s budget woes w
ill lead to an increase in crime in the near future.
“Small to large to statewide municipalities, including
ourselves, are stuck with no additional manpower
coming in as we lose officers that came onto the job
two or three decades ago [and who] are reaching
their retirement ages,” said Dan Sisto, second vice
president of the New York State Troopers Police
Benevolent Association.
Reach Jon Campbell at Jcampbell.gannett@gmail.
com.
On the Web
For articles on local crimes, go to www.
poughkeepsiejournal.com/crime
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