Crime by the Numbers - Northwest Area Burglaries

In mid-March, the Crime Tracker 3 team was first to report on a series of robberies in the western part of the Las Vegas valley, mostly west of I-15. Last week, Metro caught five suspects they've connected to some of those robberies. In many of those cases, citizens had left doors or windows unlocked, and the crooks took advantage. Now, with the weather getting warmer, history shows that crimes of all types will rise. Metro hopes the news of the arrest in the high-profile robbery string does not lead to people putting their guard down. Crime Tracker 3 spoke with Lt. Chris Jones of the Northwest Area Command.

Crime By the Numbers - Northeast Auto Burglaries

Auto burglaries are a concern for the entire Las Vegas Valley, and the northeast in particular. When examining the numbers, Crime Tracker 3 found out there have been 198 auto burglaries in the Northeast Area Command from January 1 to March 27. There were 196 auto burglaries in the same time period in 2009. That amounts to a 1% increase. Back in February, the numbers were between six and seven percent higher than in 2009. The bottom line is -- auto burglary is on the decline. Crime Tracker 3 discussed the trend with Northeast Area Captain Chris Darcy.

Crime by the Numbers - Intelligence-led Policing

The past two captains in Las Vegas Metro's Bolden Area Command have been proponents of "intelligence-led policing." This week, 16 officers, two from each area command, are getting special training at UNLV's Department of Criminal Justice, to learn about databases and analysis techniques. Next week, they will be prepared with civilian crime analysts who work at Metro. The objective will be to have a team in each area command that will look for emerging crime trends and assist the bureau commander in making daily (and possibly more frequent) adjustments in police deployment and patrol activities, aimed at more efficient police work.
Sgt. Jack Clements with Metro's Bolden Area Command explains the idea to Crime Tracker 3's Sophia Choi.

Metro also has a partnership with UNLV, where graduate students will also look at crime reports. The students will be searching for other kinds of patterns in data that can be compared to crime trends. For example, they might look at possible connections between foreclosuers and crime, to see if that strongly-suspected link is supported by data, and to identify if there is some number or density of foreclosed homes that triggers an increase in crime.

Crime by the Numbers - Convention Center Area Prostitution

Captain Charles Hank, commander at Metro's Convention Center Area Command says he's noticed an increase in robberies committed by suspected prostitutes in Las Vegas's resort corridor. He's also noticed an increase in the violence of those robberies, and an increase in the use of guns in those robberies.

Metro takes crime fighting lesson from Andy Griffith

As part of our weekly look at neighborhood crime trends, the Crime Tracker 3 team looked at the types of calls officers are going on in the Convention Center Area Command. So far police have gone on a "code 469" a whole lot -- 3,175 times, compared to just 1,001 "469s" in the same time-frame in 2009. A code 469 is formally a "bar/perimeter check," but as Captain Charles Hank explained, it's really just stopping by, and asking folks "what's been going on, what are your issues, what can we help you with?"
It's an approach you may be familiar with from a legend of TV crime fighting -- Sheriff Andy Taylor.

Crime by the Numbers - Enterprise Area Command

Captain Mike Dalley explains a recent crime trend in Metro's Enterprise Area Command.

Crime by the Numbers - Bolden Area

The downward crime trend in Metro's jurisdiction looks to continue in the new year, but the Crime Tracker 3 has found out Metro definitly has some areas of concern.  This week's focus is on the Bolden Area Command. Overall, violent crime is down 33-percent so far this year, and property crime is down 27-percent.
In the last week, bolden area officers looked at crime data and saw a trend: a rise in burglaries in a neighborhood just west of their substation, between Simmons and Tonopah, south of Lake Mead Boulevard. We spoke with Lt. Rob Lundquist.


The officers who visited that neighborhood found some simple problems, like poor lighting or overgrown bushes. Metro detectives are still working on the harder problem -- finding and arresting the suspects in those burglaries. If you want a crime prevention specialist to check out your home and neighborhood, just call your police station.

Crime by the Numbers - Convention Center Area

As the Crime Tracker 3 team looks back at crime trends for 2009 and asks about police priorities in 2010, one area of focus that emerges is Sexual Assault. As 2009 ended, there were more than 1,500 sexual assaults in Metro's jurisdiction, an increase of more than 8%.
Last week, we asked the Captain from Enterprise Area about that trend. The trend is different in the Convention Center Area, because of the nature of that area. Convention Center sees fewer cases of incest and more "acquaintance-related" sexual assaults, especially incidents where the two acquaintances only met the night of the incident.
Captain Charles Hank talks about the subject, and what he and his officers are already doing about it.

Auto burglary was also a concern in the Convention Center area in 2009. We also asked Capt. Hank about that subject.

By the Numbers: Northwest Area Command

I started my concersation with LVMPD Northwest Area Command Capt. Csaba Maczala on Wednesday with a simple question: What's going on in the northwest? He said a conversation about crime statistics has to start with homicide.
As of 12/5/'09, there had been 17 homicides in the NWAC in 2009. That's a 41.67% increase. Homicides are down for Metro overall, by 7.44%. Any police manager will tell you that homicide is one of the most difficult crimes to predict and prevent. Preventing other types of crimes, especially violent crimes, will help reduce the number of homicides. Metro is aldo working on its approach to domestic violence, since many homicides have a link to prior domestic violence incidents.

Crime by the Numbers: South Central

In Metro's South Central area commnad, auto burglary is down more than 12% year-to-date, compared to 2008. Historically, Metro sees a slight uptick of auto burglary in December. Captain Brian Greenway suspects that's because people are so rushed, they often forget their usual safety efforts.

Crime by the Numbers: SEAC Home Invasions

There have been 24 home invasion robberies in Metro's South East Area Command so far in 2009. Right now, Captain David O'Leary and his officers are coming up with a plan to target that crime in the new year. He spoke with Crime Tracker 3's Sophia Choi about home invasion robberies.

Crime by the Numbers: Metro South East

Metro's South East Area command saw 20 of the 108 homicides so far this year in Metro's jurisdiction. The homicide rate there is up 54% from last year. That's the highest rate of increase in all of Metro. Overall, Metro's homicides are down a little more than nine percent.
Sophia Choi talked to Captain David O'Leary about homicides, and how he and his officers are working to reduce their frequency.

Preview: Crime by the Numbers

Today may be a holiday, but the Crime Tracker 3 team isn't taking the day off. Tonight at 4pm, we'll explore the high rate of homicides in Metro's South East Area Command. Then at 6pm, we'll find out how South East Area officers are planning now to take on a troubling crime trend in the coming year.