For nearly 10 years, East Lansing Police Department officials have waited for crime statistics to be released each fall.
Each year, they’re not surprised.
An FBI report released last week showed the East Lansing-Lansing area’s violent crime levels of 422.3 were among the lowest crime rates in the state.
The FBI’s 2000 Uniform Crime Report is voluntary and includes violent crime rates for murder-manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. The reports are based on data from agencies in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. Rates are recorded per 100,000 residents.
“We’re getting better at throwing bad guys in jail,” East Lansing police Deputy Chief Tom Wibert said. “I can’t think of any reason why the rate would start increasing again.”
Wibert said technology and community policing have helped the East Lansing area keep crime out of the city. As more criminals are captured using those tools, the number of serious crimes has dipped.
“We’re getting better information from the community and from crime scenes,” he said. “It used to be that we would find a thumbprint at a crime scene and you had to have a suspect in mind. Now, we just submit the thumbprint and solve the crime. It’s a huge difference.”
With violent crime rates of 260.7 in Ann Arbor and 428.3 in the Grand Rapids, Muskegon and Holland metropolitan areas, both areas were also ranked among the lowest rates in the state.
Detroit’s violent crime levels of 753.6, Flint’s levels of 656.6 and the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek metropolitan area levels of 624.8 were the highest in the state.
But Lansing police Lt. Ray Hall said crime rates are often impacted by more than just police officers patrolling city streets.
Economic concerns and community relationships have helped stabilize crime rates in the area, he said.
“Colleges are rather large employers. The economy around a college town is typically more stable than a noncollege town, and there’s a direct link there,” Hall said.
Cooperation between departments increased the level of communication from citizens and increased volunteers efforts, Hall said. With more involvement, he said, people in the area won’t put up with serious crimes.
“There’s a low tolerance degree in Mid-Michigan residents for crime,” he said. “Kids call for help. They don’t tolerate crime. It’s the student culture.”
Although national crime levels have continued to dip during past years, the FBI report said levels remained steady this year.
Amy Alderman, a crime analyst for the Michigan State Police, said state levels dropped just 1 percent this year.
“There are little blips here and there,” she said. “There are different theories about why it’s gone down. It’s hard to tell on a statewide level.”
