Crime Takes a Mild Dip This Year

In most places, a slow economy would mean more crime. But that's not so, in the case in Bedford.

Despite the overall financial downturn, there has no been escalation in the crime rate in this town. If anything, it has dropped mildly, said police department spokesman Lt. Jeffrey Dickan.

As of November 2009, the fresh case load (which includes everything from petty larceny to DWI) stood at 390, down from 469 during the same period, last year.

The consolidated number of offences reported this year was 239. It was 245 the previous year.

Dickan could not attribute this trend to any specific reason. 

While there were 19 reported burglaries as of November 2008, the corresponding month this year, logged up to 20.

The current year witnessed two less larcenies. They touched 84 until November 2009, as compared to 86 up to the same month in 2008.

There was no change in the number of car thefts, however. It remained at two for both years.

Compared with 2008, fewer speeding tickets were issued this year—757 as of November 2009 as against 800 as of the same month, last year.

However, this year, there has been a jump in the number of traffic violation-related summons—2,664.

The total number of reported accidents declined, falling from 665 last year, to 525 in 2009. 

Giving an overview of the local crime scene, Dickan said, one area that has recorded a palpable decline is home breaks-ins. "Back in the 1980s, there were a lot more burglaries," he said.

They've petered out now, due to advanced surveillance technologies. "Home alarms and video surveillance systems have come a long way since then," he surmised. 

Another possibility is that the people who committed these crimes have moved out of the area on account of the high cost of living, he said. 

Either way, things tend toward stability. In his 27 years in the Bedford police force, he hasn't yet seen crime statistics see-saw from year to year.