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ARLINGTON — The city is experiencing a nearly 2 percent increase in crime this year, driven largely by an 11 percent rise in burglaries, Police Chief Theron Bowman said.
Bowman, however, said he hopes that a reduction in reported offenses the past few months means that Arlington’s crime will actually be down for 2009 compared with last year. Bowman and his command staff highlighted some of the city’s hot spots and the department’s enforcement initiatives in an annual presentation to the City Council on Tuesday. "The news is mostly good," Bowman said, citing a 50 percent drop in homicides and minimal crime or traffic problems linked to the new $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium. "We’re doing everything we can do to make our neighborhood the safest places they could possibly be."But it’s because of the growing entertainment district and the city’s increasing population that the Arlington Police Association is pushing the city to significantly expand its police force.While a 1.8 overall percent increase in crime for the city may sound small, officers are dealing with more-complex calls for service that keep them off the street longer and reduce the time they have for proactive enforcement, Police Association President Randle Meadows said.The association believes that the Police Department, which has about 600 officers, needs 200 to 250 more officers."While the Arlington Police Department is doing a fine job of policing our city, it is still evident we need to increase our public safety to combat crime where needed and to further reduce crime where we’ve been successful," said Meadows, who believes Arlington should increase its sales tax rate to pay for police officers like Fort Worth.More than enforcement Budget projections do not call for significant additional police officers outside of grant-funded positions. The Police Department has received nearly $10 million in grants in the past year, including $6.1 million that will be used to add officer positions during the next three years.In 2007, Arlington voters rejected a proposed Crime Control and Prevention District that would have raised the sales tax rate by one-eighth cent and generated about $6 million a year for more police, firefighters and code enforcement officers, and various neighborhood programs. Bowman said the department will continue high-visibility and covert enforcement efforts, foot patrols and partnerships with other city departments, neighborhood groups and businesses. "We understand in the Police Department in order to have safe, attractive and engaged neighborhoods we have to have more than just enforcement," said Bowman, who added that 11 of the burglary arrests this year can be attributed to residents who called 911 to report suspicious activity.Other department priorities include reducing the time between an offense and when a suspect is identified, expanding information-sharing with regional and federal agencies in regard to public safety in the entertainment district, and increasing capacity at the city jail, which is expected to house 20,000 people a year.
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