Historical December 1984 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
The latest crime statistics for the nine initial Operation SafeStreet target neighborhoods show a noticeable drop in crime in the target areas during the January 1, 1984 thru September 30, 1984 reporting period. Overall, crime has decreased by 9.2% in the City of St. Louis during the first nine months of the year, while in the Operation SafeStreet neighborhoods crime has fallen by 20.5%. Reports issued at the program’s three and six-month intervals showed similar declines of 25.8% and 23.1%.
When broken down by categories, the statistics reveal that assaults have declined by 25.9% in the nine Operation SafeStreet neighborhoods as compared to a citywide drop of only 5.6%. Rapes have fallen by 32.0% in the target neighborhoods, while increasing by 4% citywide. Homicides are down by 33.3% in the nine neighborhoods and down 20.7% citywide. Robberies have been reduced by 30.9% in the target areas, while dropping 22.4% citywide. Auto thefts have dropped 19.9% in the Operation SafeStreet neighborhoods, but only 1.2% citywide. Burglary is down 10.4% in the nine areas and 8.3% overall, while larceny has been reduced 22.7% in the target neighborhoods versus a 10.0% drop citywide. Operation SafeStreet was started last January in designated neighborhoods as a cooperative effort by the city, neighborhood residents and the police to curb crime.
These latest figures provide further evidence that Operation SafeStreet is working. Residents are proving that by getting involved, crime can be reduced in our neighborhoods.
The criminal element is getting the message that area residents are fighting back.
These are not just abstract numbers.
In real terms they mean that 20 percent fewer people have been victims of crime.
For the third quarter in a row, crime has dropped twice as fast in the SafeStreet neighborhoods as in the City as a whole. I hope that this news will result in even greater participation in the Operation SafeStreet program.
The nine neighborhoods in Phase I of Operation SafeStreet are Skinker-DeBaliviere, Cathedral Square, Fountain Park, The Ville, O’Fallon, Fox Park, Shaw, Tiffany, and LaSalle Park.
The five SafeStreet programs being implemented in the nine target areas are: Project Porchlight—where residents are asked to turn on their porchlights from dusk to dawn; Project Home Security— here SafeStreet crews install locks, basement window bars, pin first floor windows, install basement door barricades, install smoke alarms and a peep hole in the front.
The work costs $150.00 for this package but is free for seniors or handicapped persons; Project Quiet Street— street patterns are changed to add a sense of community and make it easier for residents to identify strangers and suspicious occurrences; Neighborhood Watch—trains residents to be on the lookout for suspicious activities in their neighborhood and report them to the police.
The final and perhaps most important program is the SafeStreet Newsletter which establishes a viable communication network with the residents of the target areas and provides for feedback from the community.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, December 1984.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1984_12.pdf, printed page(s) 7; PDF page(s) 7.
