Police Chief: 2010 Overall Crimes Up, But Levels Remain Low

Crime is up and so are arrests in Golden Valley says Golden Valley Police Chief Stacy Altonen. But she adds that’s not a bad thing.

“We are way down from even a decade ago,” said Altonen at a Neighborhood Watch meeting Thursday night.

Altonen spoke to about a dozen residents of the "Tyrol Hills Neighborhood" who showed up for the Zone 8 Neighborhood Watch meeting, one of 10 annual zone meetings held a year. She presented an 11-month survey of crime in their neighborhood and throughout the city.

Altonen says the number has dropped for more serious crimes such as aggravated assault, facilitated rape, murder, robbery, arson, burglary, theft and motor theft defined as “Part I Crimes” by the FBI. In 2010, the department handled 527 calls of this nature, they handled 678 in 2009. On the flip side, more minor crimes, distinguished as “Part II Crimes” are way up. In 2010, 1610 crimes of this caliber were reported, up from 1354 in 2009. These include simple assaults, fraud, stolen property and vandalism, and this year the department is also including traffic enforcement.

“If you don’t count the traffic enforcement, it was actually only an increase of four crimes over 2009,” said Altonen.  

Altonen says the police force has beefed up its traffic enforcement by 32 percent over 2009 and 122 percent since 2008. Police have stepped up traffic patrols because that’s where many of the serious criminals can be caught, Altonen said, citing an example of a man stopped on Tuesday who was arrested for his eighth DWI. In 2010, 193 DWI arrests were made by Golden Valley police officers.

“If you’re in Golden Valley and you’re committing a traffic offense, there’s a good chance our officers have met you,” Altonen said. “We have more officers out so we have more arrests.”

Crime statistics have remained pretty consistent for the past decade or two, she said, thanks to the partnership they’ve created with the community.

“In the '80s, crime was high because policing was reactive. With the advent of community policing in the '90s, it became proactive,” she said. “Police and the community need to work together, and we’ll all come out ahead.”

Calls for service increased by almost 1,000 from 2009 to 2010, with the Golden Valley police department receiving 19,100 calls this past year. Nancy Grove, a 24-year resident of the city, says she’s made calls for even suspicious activity because she takes personal ownership in her community.

“It’s nice to know what’s going on in your community,” said Grove. “Just as you get involved in your neighborhood, you become invested and concerned as to how it gets managed well.”

Altonen reminded residents of one of the more prevalent crimes in their neighborhood—theft from an auto. She says this crime is one of the easiest to prevent by simply locking your doors.  

“There are so many people that do this crime. I know many of them bypass locked cars because there are so many that are unlocked,” she said.

One of the city’s newest ordinances was also highlighted—the Social Host Ordinance, which can bring a misdemeanor charge to anyone, knowingly or unknowingly, hosting an event where minors are consuming alcohol. Only one such citation has been handed out since the ordinance was adopted in fall 2010.

Altonen also reminded residents of the Repeat Nuisance Call Ordinance where if officers receive three or more complaints of loud music, dogs barking or other ‘nuisance noise’ disturbing neighbors and it is happening in progress while officers arrive, offenders could face a $250 fine. City “quiet hours” are designated between 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

 “We have low crime rates and we want to keep it that way,” said Altonen.

This is the second Neighborhood Watch meeting the police department has held so far this year. There will be nine such meetings in 2011.