Shaker Heights Crime: Was 2016 the Safest Year in City History?

SHAKER HEIGHTS, OH - The city's police department is reporting that 2016 was, perhaps, the safest year in Shaker Heights history. The department recorded only 544 Part 1 crimes last year, the lowest total since the city began recording the numbers in 1959.

The Ohio Department of Public Safety defines Part 1 crimes as murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The city's highest reported total of Part 1 crimes came in 1975 when the department tallied 2,451 incidents.

By comparison, there were 613 Part 1 crimes in 2015 and 616 Part 1 crimes in 2014, the department says.

Commander John Cole of the Shaker Heights Police says there is no one thing that led to the decline in Part 1 crime stats in 2016. He did say the department's relationship with the community it serves continues to deepen, which has aided its crime fighting efforts.

Cole also cited the department's beefed up community outreach and preventive crime fighting efforts. Next month, the department will take part in the national "Coffee with a Cop" initiative which seeks to drive dialogue between officers and the community they serve.

The department also recently spent time at the Shaker Heights Schools discussing issues that impact teenagers and adolescents. That conversation evolved into a discussion on how to best work together to prevent crimes from occurring.

The department has also actively used social media to communicate with Shaker Heights residents. In one post, the department even invited residents to stop by the police headquarters and chat about what crime prevention efforts can be taken in individual neighborhoods.

"We have always considered our department to be a learning organization that not only demands that our members hear the concerns of our community and department, we also want to listen to those we serve; as well as research, implement and act on recommendations to deliver excellent service," Cole told Patch."We also have benefited by providing better crime prevention information through our community groups and social media; as well as making recommendations on safety tools such as increased lighting, safety checks, alarms, etc., while analyzing incidents with similar patterns."

He added that while this trend is a positive one, to continue the prevention efforts the department will need to continually involve the community it serves. Cole also said the success of declining Part 1 crimes is not just a police department success story, but attributable to the whole community's efforts.

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