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Crime & Safety

Overall Crime Down, Residential Burglaries Up

A report given by the chief of the police showed that while crime has dropped overall, burglaries are on the rise.

See the attached report for all statistics provided at the city council meeting.

Overall crime is down in Milpitas, according to Chief of the Milpitas Police Department, Dennis Graham. In his report at the Oct. 4 city council meeting, Graham compared crime statistics gathered as recently as August, 2011. 

2010 boasted the lowest crime rate since 1970, when record-keeping began in Milpitas, despite the fact that there are less police on the streets today than ever before. The chief attributed this to better technology and increased collaboration on crime-fighting strategies. 

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However, Mayor Jose Esteves had requested the report due to concern over burglaries in the city, and reported that a burglary had occurred on his own street. Graham's report confirmed that there have been sixteen more burglaries so far in Milpitas this year than during the same time period in 2010. There were actually 11 less burglaries in 2010 than in 2009. 

"Residential burglary, specifically, is job one," Graham said. "It gets talked about at every single meeting on a daily basis."

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Brainstorming and information-sharing between police departments from San Jose and Fremont have helped, in addition to neighborhood watch programs, he said. The U.S. Interstate 880 corridor is a particularly problematic area.  

"Residential burglaries are the crime du jour, the crime of the day," Graham said. "It seems to be what criminals are focusing on doing." Most of the criminals come from out of town, he added.  

Auto thefts increased from 2009 to 2010, and Graham said that he thinks the Internet is partly responsible, since thieves can look up which cars can be easily hotwired and stolen. Cars are usually stolen for transportation purposes rather than for parts, he added. Significantly fewer auto thefts have occurred this year, however. 

Graham mentioned the one murder that had occurred in 2011, which was a Memorial Day crime in which a drug dealer was arrested. after the report was issued. There were no homicides in Milpitas in 2010.

In 2010 there were only 29 aggravated assaults, compared to 65 in 2009. "It's the lowest I've seen in my career," said Graham.

Councilmembers asked about the methodology for reporting crimes, and Graham explained that if someone commits multiple crimes in one instance, only the "highest" level is reported. In addition, if one person kills multiple individuals, each victim would be counted as a separate statistic. 

Identity thefts and drug-related crimes were not included in the report. Although crimes committed by gangs were included in the statistics, there was no separate category explored at the meeting. 

There are 10 active gangs in Milpitas with 175 members, said Graham. But he pointed out that gangs themselves are not illegal, and that gang violence is a statewide issue. 

After some discussion, the council concluded that reporting would take place semi-annually and include statistics on drug crimes and gang violence. It was unclear whether identity theft statistics would be included in the next report. 

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