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New police statistics show crime level down
Police say economy, alert citizens could be reasons for trend
By Kate Carter
Crime in Willow Glen fell by about 12 percent last year from 1999 levels, according to police statistics released last month.
The data comes from police reports filed by officers on the cases and compiled by the police crime analysis unit, spokesman Sgt. Steve Dixon said.
Data is organized in police beat districts, which do not conform exactly to Willow Glen's boundaries. Data from those districts within Willow Glen was used by The Resident to determine Willow Glen crime statistics.
San Jose police reported a total of 4,417 crimes in the Willow Glen area in 2000, which is 610 crimes less than the 5,027 crimes reported in 1999.
Police reported that crime fell throughout San Jose by about 5 percent last year over the previous year. Nationwide crime also fell by about 0.3 percent between January and June 2000, according to an FBI report released in December.
District supervisor Sgt. Ed Escobar, who oversees policing in southern Willow Glen, said the drop could be attributed to the good economy and a low unemployment rate in the area.
"People are employed, families have an income and are working," he said. "People aren't pressed to commit crimes."
By extension, a largely higher-rent area such as Willow Glen would tend to have less crime, he said, although Willow Glen's boundaries do cover a wide spectrum of housing and rent costs.
Escobar also referred to other factors that have reduced crime. He said the city's recent beat redistricting, which redefined beat boundaries to reflect the number of police calls from those areas, gave patrol officers more time on the streets and made policing more efficient. The department's emphasis on community involvement and the public's growing trust in their officers also helped, he says.
"We can't do a good job without help from citizens," he said.
Lt. Steve Lewis, who also oversees police in Willow Glen, agreed that the public was partly responsible for bringing crime down.
"We're getting calls from citizens about suspicious activity," he said. "They're not hesitating to make that phone call."
Violent crime was down in Willow Glen. There were no murders last year, and only one was reported in 1999. Armed robbery was down, with seven fewer incidents reported than the 20 reported in 1999. There were also only 229 reported aggravated assaults in 2000, down from 262 in 1999.
Car theft was down, as well. Only 137 cars were reported stolen from public spaces last year, with 170 reported stolen in 1999. These figures do not include cars that were not returned to rental agencies or that were stolen by family members and friends.
The number of car break-ins also nosedived by more than a third, with 391 last year and 654 in 1999.
Even bike theft was down--there were 47 bikes reported stolen in 1999 and only 38 stolen last year.
Some types of crimes did rise in the past year, however.
There were 20 more residential burglaries reported in 2000 with 160 compared to 140 in 1999.
Police reported 17 more incidents of drug possession and sale in Willow Glen last year, as well. There were 217 reports in 2000 and 200 in 1999.
Commercial burglaries generally remained the same, with 54 cases last year and 57 in 1999.
Escobar and Lewis said that, especially for crimes like car theft and burglary, a crime spree by an individual or group can make a dramatic change in the number of those crimes that occur in a small area in a short amount of time.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
