Crime & Safety

Preliminary Report: Major Crimes in Greenfield Up Slightly

But the Greenfield Police Department was more successful at clearing crimes and recovering property in 2010 than it was in 2009.

The had more success recovering stolen property and clearing major crimes in 2010 compared to 2009, according to preliminary statistics released by the department Tuesday.

But violent crimes and property crimes increased slightly over that same time.

The police department recovered almost $432,000 in stolen goods in 2010, a 49 percent hike over the $289,990 recovered in 2009. That increase came despite the total monetary value of stolen goods decreasing by 9 percent to $1.18 million, down from approximately $1.3 million in 2009.

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"We’re doing a good job," Deputy Inspector Brad Wentlandt said. "Our clearance rates are good. Our people are working hard. We’re throwing a lot of resources at crime because we have the resources to do it. If we don’t have the resources to do it, those numbers will change."

One more violent crime was reported in 2010 compared to 2009. Of the 52 offenses committed in 2010, 28 were robberies, two more than 2009, and 21 were aggravated assaults, one less than the previous year.

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There were also three reported forcible rapes in 2010, the same as in 2009.

Property crimes – burglary, larceny theft and motor vehicle theft – were up 3 percent, with 41 more reported incidents in 2010. There was a 37 percent decline in vehicle thefts, from 60-38, but larceny thefts were up from 1,038 to 1,099, a 6 percent jump.

The department, however, cleared 14 percent more property crime cases than it did in 2009. A crime can be cleared in a number of ways including, but not limited to arresting the offender.

"Our school resource officers are working with the detectives during the summertime and we’ve been moving a police officer into the detective bureau three months at a time, so we have additional resources," Wentlandt said. "A lot of cases that would not get the attention and follow-up are now getting it."

Other interesting finds in the data were:

  • Significant hikes in the total value of stolen currency/notes ($92,980 to $190,827) and household goods ($9,210 to $25,862) from 2009 to 2010.
  • a 358 percent increase of recovered jewelry and precious metals, from $15,655 in 2009 to $71,661 in 2010, despite the overall amount reported stolen dropping from $160,336 to $100,247.

"That has a lot to do with Detective (Chuck) Fletcher doing the second-hand jewelry detail," Wentlandt said of the spike in recovered jewelry. "The relationship with the second-hand jewelers is excellent. They have been more proactive working with him."

For the department's crime statistics dating back to 1996, click here.


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