Crime in the city

Journal story....

Hamilton, Middletown number one in state for property crimes

Butler County’s two largest cities have the highest property crime rate per capita in Ohio, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report.
Middletown, with a population of 48,959, had 4,027 reported property crimes in 2012, and Hamilton, with a population of 62,791, had 4,713 reported property crimes, according to FBI data. By comparison, similar-sized Ohio communities such as Mentor (47,123 people) and West Chester Twp. (58,897) reported 1,225 and 1,316 property crimes, respectively, in 2012.
Middletown police Lt. Scott Reeve said he isn’t surprised by the statistics but was “surprised that other agencies are so low.”
Reeve said one factor could be that Middletown police make reporting such crimes relatively easy for residents.
“We send an officer out, other agencies aren’t like that,” Reeve said. “At some agencies, if you call in a report of a theft, the agency will mail you a form or you have to go online to make a theft report. Some citizens will not report it; that’s too much of a hassle.”
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report warns that its rankings can “lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting cities and counties, along with their residents.”
Reeve said the thousands of thefts and burglaries in Middletown may make the city look like an unsafe place to live, but he pointed out the city’s violent crime numbers are down.
“Last year only had one homicide, other agencies our size reported more homicides,” he said. “If you look at the homicide rate, it doesn’t look like Middletown has a crime problem.”

WELL, IF YOU INVITE THE ELEMENT TO TOWN, AS THE CITY OFFICIALS HAVE DONE,WITH THEIR WELCOME MAT APPROACH TO SECTION 8 AND LOW INCOME AND ALL THAT THAT INFERS, I GUESS THIS SHOULDN'T SURPRISE ANYONE. STEALING TO GAIN MONEY FOR HEROIN, EPIDEMIC IN THE CITY, SEEMS TO BE THE LIKELY CULPRIT. KEEP YOUR GUNS HANDY. LOOKS LIKE THE COPS CAN'T HANDLE THE NUMBER OF THEFTS.

LOOKS LIKE CITY OFFICIALS HAVE TRADED GAINING FED REVENUE TO HELP RUN THE TOWN FOR MORE CRIME AND THE STIGMA OF BEING "GHETTO-LIKE". WONDER WHAT WOULD PROMPT THIS KIND OF THINKING? GUESS THE THOUGHT OF GAINING REVENUE THAT WOULD INVOLVE DECENT CITIZENS, WILLING TO WORK, HAVING THINGS NICE AND STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE, THROUGH EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES NEVER ENTERED THEIR MINDS.

THEIR MINDSET NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE ME.