Sgt. Ron Gordon is the designated crime analyst for the department. The crime analyst supports the Patrol, Detective, and Administrative Divisions as well as other government agencies, individuals and businesses in the community by providing information on reported crimes and calls for service. There were over 90 requests for statistical information responded to in 2007.

The role of the crime analyst will be greatly expanded in the coming year. The usefulness of statistical information is in direct correlation with the timeliness of the data analyzed. One of the primary advantages of the mobile data project will be the ability to acquire current information from the records management system. The objective for 2008 is for the crime analyst to utilize this information while still fresh to prepare regularly scheduled reports revealing overall activity and identifying any criminal patterns as they develop. The advantage of a quick turnaround from incident report to prepared analytical report is that it will allow department staff to develop a response that places resources in the areas needed. Continued reports by the analyst will allow the staff to evaluate the effectiveness of their actions and make adjustments as necessary.

In addition to crime analysis reports for the department, Sgt. Gordon will continue to respond to requests from watch groups concerned about activity in their neighborhoods, and requests from businesses and individuals.

WHAT'S HAPPENING...

• With all of the data compiled for 2009 we can now state that violent crimes have increased approximately 12% as compared with the previous year. This increase is attributed in large part to a 15% rise in robberies along with an increase of 13% in aggravated assaults. Aggravated assaults were consistently higher from March through July of 2009 compared to last year, and an additional 22 robberies occurring in January, June, and July caused the percentage increase in that crime.
  
  Part I property crimes increased by 3% in 2009, while stealing, motor vehicle theft, and arson fell slightly. However, a 25% increase in burglaries offset the gains in other areas.
  
• One of the goals of the Support Services Division for 2009 was to enhance public information by providing crime data through web based information systems. A major step towards achieving this occurred on December 15th when we integrated our Records Management System with CrimeReports.com. After a period of testing and adjustments, we went live on the system on December 31st. This integration allows us to display current crime reports from our department on a Google map through this website. The site is available for anyone to use free of cost to them. Once we are satisfied with the manner in which the information is displayed the information will be embedded into the department website.
• The final analysis for 2009 response times to priority I calls reveals that the figure has remained below the target time of 11 minutes for the entire year.
  

Crime mapping, crime reports, and crime analysisfor St. Joseph with CrimeReports.com