Rockwall Police Chief Reports Decrease in Crime
02-20-2013
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Denise Bell
Post Managing Editor
On Monday evening, Rockwall Police Chief, Mark Moeller presented the 2012 Racial Profiling Report, Annual Crime Comparison Report and the 2012 Holiday Initiative results to the Rockwall City Council and in the process declared a considerable decrease in crime within the City of Rockwall.
Addressing the Council at their bi-monthly meeting Chief Moeller stated, “Crime in Rockwall is down 10.4% since last year, and is down by 27% in violent crimes.”
Racial Profiling Reports are annually submitted to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers to document the racial breakdown of searches conducted and arrests made as a result of traffic stops.
Chief Moeller reported, “There were no complaints of racial profiling against the Rockwall Police this year”, before explaining the Annual Crime Comparison Report.
Moeller stated “Each year we analyze and compare our crime rate by utilizing the crime index. This is calculated by taking the number of crimes, in any type of category, and comparing those numbers to the estimated population for that year. To make a more accurate comparison from year to year, we further break it down based on crimes reported per 1,000 residents.”
Elaborating Moeller explained that Part 1 offenses are those crimes that must be reported to the FBI by every police agency in the country. They consist of the total numbers of all murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, thefts, and motor vehicle thefts occurring within that agency’s jurisdiction.
The following tables compare 2012 with previous years:
Part 1 Offenses
Year Total Part 1 Crimes Population Estimate Crime Index
2003 896 24,332 36.8
2004 896 25,377 35.3
2005 834 28,173 29.6
2006 880 29,458 29.9
2007 853 31,067 27.4
2008 1,051 31,800 33.0
2009 1,070 34,700 30.8
2010 1,004 36,300 27.7
2011 1,070 37,666 28.5
2012 890 38,750 22.9
Violent Crime
Year Violent Crimes Population Estimate Crime Index
2003 46 24,332 1.9
2004 51 25,377 2.0
2005 57 28,173 2.0
2006 32 29,458 1.09
2007 23 31,067 0.74
2008 33 31,800 1.03
2009 28 34,700 0.80
2010 18 36,300 0.49
2011 37 37,666 0.98
2012 27 38,750 0.69
Total Crime
Year Total Crimes Population Estimate Crime Index
2003 2,401 24,332 98.7
2004 2,556 25,377 100.9
2005 2,605 28,173 92.5
2006 2,914 29,458 98.9
2007 2,927 31,067 94.2
2008 2,849 31,800 89.6
2009 2,946 34,700 84.9
2010 2,763 36,300 76.1
2011 2,897 37,666 77.0
2012 2,596 38,750 67.0
Police Chief Moeller next discussed the Rockwall Police Departments 2012 Holiday Initiative. He stated “Our 2012 Holiday Crime Initiative, which added extra patrol throughout the I-30 retail/restaurant corridor, was implemented and managed in the same manner and time frame as all the previous years.”
Detailing the program, Moeller said “STEP overtime is paid for one officer from 1:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. through the Thanksgiving weekend, and then for the two weeks preceding Christmas day, a total of sixteen days.”
According to Chief Moeller “In 2011, 16 Part One criminal offenses were reported and in 2010 we had 16 offenses reported. This year 11 offenses were reported for a decrease of 31% during this year’s program.”
Moeller explained that an analysis of these thefts occurring during this time frame and along the I-30 Corridor showed that four were shoplifting thefts which are virtually impossible to prevent by officers patrolling parking lots.
Three other theft offenses were also outside the scope of the program since they occurred inside the stores and were thefts of wallets or purses from the shopping cart, and only three burglary of motor vehicle offenses targeted shoppers and their parked vehicles in a commercial area that continues to grow.
Chief Moeller stated, “The 2012 Holiday Crime Initiative has again proven that this program is very effective in providing a safe environment for our residents and visitors during a very busy, very active holiday shopping season.”
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