Northeast News
February 3, 2016
Last weekend’s warm-up was a welcome respite from the normally frigid temperatures and as the thermometer rose, so did the level of crime in HNE. A homicide in the Pendleton Heights neighborhood. A car chase and a pair of shootings in the Sheffield area that culminated with an arrest near Eighth and Belmont. Topped off with a Saturday night car chase through the Scarritt and Indian Mound area that lit up social media outlets for over an hour. The end result of that chase is still unknown, but it involved a maroon compact car being chased by upwards of eight police cars and one police helicopter. All of this gives this news-pooch much pause given the recent cuts to the police budget have directly impacted the ability of command staff to dedicate commissioned officers to pro-active patrolling in neighborhoods.

It’s a well known fact that when temperatures go up in the spring months, so does crime. Apparently, this little taste of spring was all it took for the village idiots to give things a test hop before the real warm up begins in about a month. That said, it’s time for community leaders to weigh in on the budget hearings that are coming up and respectfully insist that the $8 million struck from last year’s police budget be reinstated so that staffing levels can be increased accordingly. Additionally, this dog thinks that the Community Policing initiative enjoyed in HNE back in the 1990’s be reinstated so that officers can work proactively with neighborhood associations and crime watch groups to effectively reduce crime trends early in their development.

It’s budget time in the city and with spring right around the corner, it’s time to rally support for increasing the police budget and supporting a true return to community policing in Historic Northeast. Tell ’em the dog said so.