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Area bucks lower crime trendBy David McIntoshSun Journal StaffBucking state and national trends, serious crime in Pamlico and Craven counties jumped 4 percent in the first half of 1993 compared to the same period last year.Jones County docs not report its crime statistics.Local law enforcement officers attribute the increase partly to unemployment figures and lenient sentencing. The local numbers don’t surprise police, but national figures do.Crime statistics released by the FBI last week showed the crime rate is down 5 percent nationwide for the first half of 1993, compared to the same period in 1992.“We’re just as busy now as we’ve ever been, and I don’t see it slacking off,” said Capt. John McAlexandcr of the New Bern Police Department.Statewide figures also showed a 3 percent drop, the crime picture for the same period in Craven and Pamlico counties wasn’t so rosy.Area crime statisticsMurder Rape RobberyAggravated assault 56Burglary 734 Larceny 1,301Vehiclelarceny 1051992216591993l1945927141.424107Figures are for Craven and Pamlico counties, including New Bern and Havelock. Jones County does not report crime statistics. The aggravated assault figures do not include assaults in the city of New Bern. Source: police departmentsSun JournalIn Pamlico and Craven counties the increase in serious crimes came mainly in aggravated assaults — up 64 percent from last year — and larceny, up 9 percent“I can’t attribute (the jump inaggravated assaults) to any single thing,” said Lt. Mike Rice of the Craven County Sheriff’s Office. “I think it’s reflective of the general increases in the incidence of violent crime and particularly juvenile violent crime.” ■ ,4^'....Violent crimes showed a statistical increase of 5 percent in Pamlico and Craven counties, but percentages alone may be misleading.Murders, for instance, decreased by 50 percent in the two counucs — dropping to one from two. Rape increased from 16 to 19. Robbery fell from 59 to 45 and aggravated assault rose from 56 to 92, excluding the city of New Bern, where figures for aggravated assaults weren’t available.•'-.vv'V? • t“When I started in law enforcement in 1977, violent crime was not as bad as it is today, particularly in young offenders,” Rice said. “A dispute that might have turned into a fist fight 10 years ago today results in a shooting. ...... .44^:4:.,,Rice attributes the gain in violentcrimes to lax sentencing for violent offenders. “One way you prevent violent crime is you keep violent criminals behind bars,” he said.An increase in properly crimes was expected also. New Bcm police Capt. J.P. Smith was surprised that the local increase was only 3 percent. The city of New Bern saw a 9 percent increase in property crime.“The unemployment rale is higher here than elsewhere in the state, and that might contribute” to increases in property crime, Smith said.Craven County had an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent in October. The state average was 4.8 percent.“We don’t have that many opportunities here for lower socioeconomic individuals or undereducated individuals or people with past police records,” she said.Increases in drug use and dependency also contribute to property crime, Smith said.“A lot of people out there just have to get what they can whatever way they can,” she said.
Newspaper Details
New Bern Sun Journal
New Bern, North Carolina, US
Fri, Dec 10, 1993
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
New B.
NC, USA 17 Jan 2019
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