By Lora Scripps
News-Aegis
Moody —
The Moody Police Department has reported an overall decrease in crime over the first quarter of 2010.
The decrease comes in almost every category when compared to the previous two years.
Over the past three months, MPD has not recorded any homicides, robberies or rapes when compared to 2009. Last year two homicides were reported in July, no robberies were reported and two rapes took place in September as well as one in October.
Total crime reporting for the city dropped one percent in 2009 when compared to 2008 and has continued to see a decline.
The MPD Crime Statistics Report in 2009 included: Murder–2, Assault–38, Robbery–0,Burglary–54, Theft–202, Vehicle Theft–13, Arson–1, Rape–2, Domestic Violence–96.
According to reports, assaults were down 32 percent from 2008, burglary was down four percent, harassment was down three percent, identity theft was down nine percent, forgery down 33 percent and sexual abuse was down 100 percent.
MPD Chief Bobby Breed, who has just entered his second year as chief, said he feels the key to the decline comes from an increased police and neighborhood watch presence. “We are on track again this year to do exactly what we did in 2009,” he said. “Typically with the economy like it is, you are going to see an increase in burglaries and robberies. Without a doubt, when speaking with my peers and other police chiefs, it is on the rise in other locations; but right now we are blessed with a low crime rate.”
He said that Moody has been experiencing some lesser crimes, such as criminal mischief and harassment, but said that all major crimes in 2010 are down. DUI and public intoxication statistics are also remaining low.
Breed said he could not take the credit for the decrease. “The credit needs to go to all of my young men and women in this department that are out there everyday in our neighborhoods patrolling,” he said. “We have beefed up patrol more than what we were doing. The more visible we are, the less of an opportunity there is for a crime to occur with deterrents in place.” Breed said he thanks all the citizens who continue to help the department. “We have some eyes and ears out there that help keep the numbers low,” he said. “We are blessed to have them.”
The Moody Police Department makes all crime statistics available to citizens at www.police.moodyalabama.gov. “One of the first things I wanted to do when I came to Moody was expand the web page,” Breed said. “There was not a whole lot of information there. We wanted something that navigated easier and was user-friendly. Captain David Higgins did a great job on the development of the page and continues working today to improve it.” He added he wanted to use the Internet as an information highway and that they continue to update the site. “If a citizen calls in and ask for crime statistics, we don’t want to guess,” he said, adding he wanted to make sure information was readily available. Breed cannot give information on ongoing investigations, but said he believes all citizens should have access to crime statistics within their city.
Breed said Moody crime statistics are also broken down into four sectors within the city in order for citizens to get information about their neighborhood or community. “Eventually, I want to break that down into six sectors so we can get an even better idea of localized crime, and so investigators can have a better idea of where their focus needs to be.”
“Our second goal was the enhancement of neighborhood watch,” said Breed. “It didn’t appear there was a lot of ongoing dialogue between my desk and neighborhood watch groups. Around the summer of 2009, we began breathing new life into neighborhood watch.” Since that time, neighborhoods have developed new watch programs in places they have never been before. “The citizens are our eyes and ears to help us do what we need to do and to help us identify suspicious activity,” Breed said. “We also have a chance to be in the neighborhoods, with the opportunity to gain information about citizens who may have a special need. We have more-than-once over the past six months developed information about a citizen who may have a special need that we try to help on a weekly basis. Thus far, the program is working well.”
Breed encourages neighborhoods that are not involved with neighborhood watch to become involved. “All they have to do is simply call me and let me know if there is interest and we will immediately begin the process putting together what we need to do to make that happen,” he said.
Another process new to Moody over the past year is the Elder Check and Vial of Life program. The program has allowed the MPD to work with the senior citizens on a day-to-day basis. Breed said the Vial of Life program has helped the department on a couple of occasions to know the needs of citizens when they respond to a call. The information collected tells the department about the person, their next of kin, special needs and any medical information they need to know about. “That program is an overwhelming success for us,” Breed said. “As weeks and months go by we continue get applications to join the program.”
Breed advised that there is also a program on the police department’s website known as Nixle that allows citizens to receive community safety alerts instantly by text message and email. Citizens simply need to sign up for the alerts free-of-charge.
