Aggravated assaults, burglaries and robberies were down last year in
Middletown compared to 2012, but drug activity is on the upswing, a
Journal-News analysis of the city’s 2013 crime data revealed.
“Heroin really hit us hard last year as it did the nation, and the areas
surrounding us also noticed that,” said Middletown police Lt. Scott Reeve.
Middletown police responded to 614 drug-related incidents last year compared
to 569 in 2012, data shows. Drug activity has risen each of the past four
years and has increased by 30 percent since 2010, according to the data.
A map of the city on the wall of Reeve’s office is dotted with colored push
pins signifying the location of where each crime occurred. The most criminal
activity took place in the northwest portion of the city. Flemming Road near
Central Avenue ranked No. 1 followed by University Boulevard and South Sutphin
Street, according to police.
But those statistics don’t necessarily translate into northwest Middletown
being the most dangerous part of the city, Reeve said. If you’re walking down
Flemming Road, you are not at any greater risk for being a victim of crime, he
said.
“I think Middletown is a pretty safe community,” Reeve said. “Generally, when
someone’s involved in a crime, unfortunately, there’s usually drugs involved.
We’ve had a few robberies reported, one by a young lady we have good reason to
believe she was in the middle of a drug deal when she was robbed.”
Statistics show 972 burglaries were reported last year, and police said many
of them were connected to drugs.
“If you have a family member addicted to heroin, and they know you’re going to
be gone at a certain time, they feel more comfortable breaking into that house
because they know the person’s gone and they can get away with it,” Reeve
said.
Crime prevalent around subsidized housing
Reeve’s office also had a second map hanging on the wall showing all the
Section 8, or subsidized housing, in the city and crimes that happen in and
around those neighborhoods. A lot of low-income residents are victims of
crime, mostly thefts, he said.
“It’s a struggling lifestyle to try to get out of poverty, and it’s a hard
cycle to break,” said Reeve.
City officials have been trying to reducing the amount of Section 8 housing in
Middletown and have proposed a plan to reduce the number by Housing Choice
vouchers by more than 1,000 through attrition over the next five years. The
proposed plan has met opposition from local Section 8 landlords and the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is currently reviewing the
city’s program.
Proponents of subsidized housing support spreading Section 8 throughout the
city instead of concentrating it in one area. They want to see Section 8
housing offered in more affluent neighborhoods in hopes of decreasing crime
and helping low-income individuals.
But Reeve said statistics don’t support that idea. He said even in nicer
neighborhoods Section 8 properties “still have problems with criminal
activity.”
A ‘safe community’ with ‘a lot of drug use’
Mike Easterling lives along Flemming Road and has had items stolen from his
front porch at least three separate times, including his work clothes in the
past year.
“I had a pair of work pants, they were dirty that I had set out on the front
porch,” Easterling said. “I don’t know why someone would take a pair of dirty
work pants, but they did.”
Easterling told the Journal-News he feels safe walking down Flemming Road even
though, according to police, it’s a well-known crime area.
“It’s a safe community, but there’s definitely a lot of drug use,” he said.
Four years ago, Easterling’s world was rocked after James Smith, 30, one of
his best friends and a roommate, became addicted to heroin. Smith overdosed on
heroin, Easterling said.
“He was a good person, and I saw it progress from pain pills to Vicodin to
Percocets to Oxycontin to heroin,” he said, noting his friend’s death was very
traumatizing.
Community involvement key in crime fighting
Reeve said police are trying to be more proactive with crime, but the
community’s help is essential.
“If you see something suspicious, please call it in,” Reeve said.
He said a couple of years ago, thanks to tips from residents, the police were
able to arrest a man for a string of daytime burglaries. Reeve said the guy
“was going door-to-door asking for a girl he claimed he met at a bar the
previous night.”
Reeve said police are working on some new crime-fighting initiatives this
year, but he declined to go into detail
“Might hamper our ability to be successful in the investigation, but do have
some plans,” he said.