 On Point Vincent Carroll, editor of the editorial pages, writes his On Point column most weekdays. He is also an author and freelance writer. Reach Vincent Carroll at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com. |
Carroll: Tools to boost safety
My Denver neighborhood has been hit by a few burglaries over the past two summers in which the thief uses the same M.O. He slips into a back yard shortly after dark when he believes no one is home and breaks a window to gain entry.
How do I know this? My local homeowners association updates neighbors via e-mail, complete with recommendations on how to protect our homes and a contact at the local district police station to call in case of suspicious activity.
It’s a useful service, which is why I was happy to hear Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper announce, in his State of the City address Tuesday, that “we will continue to expand public access to safety data, so residents can be true partners in working with us to improve the safety of their neighborhoods.”
The city already provides a lot of crime data on its Web site — including neighborhood rankings, a breakdown of offenses, the trend over the past two years and locations of “hot spots” within each community.
Still, Hickenlooper is right that Denver can and should do more — as could every other metro city.
To get an idea of how crime data can be sliced and diced into clear and easy-to-digest tables, check out chicagocrime.org, a private and “freely browsable database of crimes reported in Chicago.”
Want a list of all crimes on the 1000 block of West Addison Street — or any other block in the city — during any recent period, complete with a day by day log of color-coded offenses? Done.
Want to see all crimes reported within two, four or eight blocks of that location? Or perhaps you seek a breakdown of crimes, say, on a particular date, or a list of their occurrence by the hour?
How about a list of aggravated assaults, attempted robberies, sexual assaults — whatever — with a map pinpointing their location? Chicagocrime.org sorts offenses by police district, ward, ZIP code — you name it — and the presentation is readable and clean.
If Hickenlooper seeks “new and innovative public safety partnerships at the neighborhood level,” one way to start is by giving citizens the data to educate themselves about every aspect of the threat.
Win-win in Piñon Canyon?
Would someone explain how the Army can “go back to the drawing board” on its plans for tripling the size of the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site in southeastern Colorado, “craft a land acquisition approach representing a ‘win-win’ solution” that only deals with “willing sellers,” and still achieve its goals?
Are landowners with the misfortune to live within the footprint of the project simply lying when they talk to reporters or appear at public meetings and vow never to voluntarily sell?
Were those who testified against the expansion earlier this year at the legislature pulling the public’s leg?
If not, how can the acting secretary of the Army talk about a “win-win” solution with “willing sellers,” as he did in a letter to Colorado senators last week, and expect to be taken seriously?
It is true, as The Denver Post noted in an editorial this week, that some people who formally reject condemnation of their property covertly embrace it because of its tax advantages. In other words, the use of eminent domain can be an amicable process benefiting both parties. But surely no such game is being played by vocal landowners in southern Colorado.
If you welcome condemnation, you don’t organize campaigns to stop the very project that guarantees it will occur.
The acting secretary’s pledge “to go back to the drawing board on (the Army’s) land acquisition approach” is being hailed in some quarters, such as Sen. Ken Salazar’s office, and perhaps those celebrating are right. But you have to wonder what possible “win-win” solution exists that can satisfy the one side in this conflict that merely wants to be left alone.
Reach Vincent Carroll at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com.