This is a bit later in the year than usual, but linked are the updated crime benchmarks that have been tracked for the past decade. They show 10 Southeast communities similar in makeup and size, including Durham as a city and as a city-county, and then a similar group broadened nationally to 29 communities nationwide.
The value of this information, produced and disseminated on behalf of the 10-organization Durham Public Information and Communications Council, is that it provides perspective both to residents and potential newcomers.
It also aids the news media in providing perspective to otherwise anecdotal references too easily skewed to the sensational. It also helps officials calibrate deployment of crime prevention assets and programs by clarifying where Durham is unique and where it is out of synch.
The Durham Police Department has for instance used the data to address and make great strides in the area of robbery.
The data are not to be used as an apology or excuse to lessen intensity in the effort to drive crime ever lower. It is a tool to better inform those who trade in negative word of mouth and exaggeration which serve no useful purpose at all. The website URL for this report is http://www.dcvb-nc.com/cr/04_crime_comparison.pdf.
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