Police Shortage Cited As Crime Rate Rises

A booming population, an "overflow" of Detroit felons I and a "general permissiveness I in society" is blamed by Pólice I Chief Walter E. Krasny for a I skyrocketing local crime rate I which set new records in Ann I Arbor last year. The chief s a y s his department is in need of additional manpower to stem the increasing crime in the community which in 1969 showed an óminous rise in assaults and robberies. Last year there were a total of 7,199 major crimes investigated by Ann Arbor pólice. That figure includes a wide range of criminal activity j ing f rom minor thefts which under Michigan law are labeled ; simple larceny to high felonies like murder and manslaughter. Three years ago - in 1967 - j city officers investigated 4,354 major crimes. The total for 1968 showed 5,059 - a jump of 705 but nothing to alarm either pólice or citizens. But in 1969 the 2,140 crime leap to the 7,199 figures has s t u n n e d Chief K r a s n y ' s administrative staff. "Of course it's the biggest increase in crime in the history of this city," Krasny says. "And it's the most crimes ever investigated by this department. It's startling and it's scary." The chief notes that while there have been increases in virtually every crime category, there is a marked jump in the "crimes against persons" sect ion.Anexampleof this appears in the rape figures which show there were nine forcible rapes investigated by pólice in 1967, seven such crimes in 1968 but 18 in 1969. Armed robberies show a similar leap. There were 34 armed holdups in 1967, 53 in 1968 and 87 in 1969. "Strong arm" beries- larcenies from a person I without the use of a weapon- reached a high of 52 in Ann Arbor last year compared to 40 in 1968 and 37 in 1967. Oí',.tbeiivc murders committed in Ann Arbor last year, four were cleared by arrests. There were two killings in the city in 1968, one of which was eleared by arrest and the lone murder in 1967 also brought an arrest. "We make a good many apprehensions for these crimes," Chief Krasny points out. "But it's really like trying ' to empty the ocean. The crime commissions are increasing at agreaterratethanthe : arrests." Burglaries show a major climb in the city from a "low" of 531 in 1967 to the 1,497 investigated last year. In 1968, there were 888 burglaries. The "forcible entry" types of break-ins in which a thief forces a door or window climbed more than 300 in 1969 over 1968 with a total of 885 such entries male in the city. One of the most pronounced rises in the statistical picture carne in the felony larceny category which includes those thei'ts in which property valued at over $50 is taken. In 1967 there were 1,159 major larcenies in Ann Arbor. That figure went up slightly in 1968 to 1,223, but last year there were 1,746 larcenies over $50. Such larcenies do not include auto thefts. But those too, are up. There were 222 cars stolen in Ann Arbor three years ago, 373 in 1968 and 586 in 1969. "We're a growing city, a booming community," Krasny says. "When you start getting bigger you're bound to have some growing pains. Regretfully, a crime increase is part of that pain picture. We're going to have to re-evaluate our crime prevention operation if we're going to cut down on these incidents. And we're going to have to get more manpower." The chief said the fact that I Ann Arbor is within a 45-minute I drive of the Detroit I tan área is a vital factor in the I rise in local crime. He said as I the metropolitan departments I i n s t i t u t e periodic I downs" on crime or increase I nighttime patrols, felons move I to Washtenaw County to I mit break-ins and robberies. "When you've got I way systems like we have, it's I a matter of minutes for a felón I to commit a crime here and he I on his way back to the Wayne I County area," Krasny says. He also said the "general I permissiveness" in society, I especially among parents, is to I blame for much of the crime. "Our figures show we're I picking up kids as young ris 10 I and 12 years old for what would I be major crimes if committed I by an adult," Krasny says. I "Some are from broken homes I but many are not. Most have I never had discipline, I standing or help at home. So I eventually they become our I problem." The chief noted that many of I the persons arrested for major I crimes by his officers are I already out on bond on a 1 ous felony and some have as I many as two or three other I court dates set for them. "Everyone is asking for jury I trials today," he said. "The I courts are jammed and 1 times a department will have I three or four detectives in court I all day on a trial. The other I day when I was talking with I Sheriff Douglas J. Harvey hel told me he had seven detectives I all in court on trials. This is an I impossible situation." I