Crime stats have always been highly anticipated by residents and, this year, was a continuance of the decrease that Somerville has experienced for the past few years with the exception of two areas.
An increase in burglaries was due to a string of incidents in Wards 5, 6, and 7 committed by the same perpetrator. This person has since been apprehended and the amount of these crimes has subsequently declined.
Police Chief Tom Pasquarello reminded attendees to keep lawn furniture and barrels away from first floor windows to deter criminals from being able to access your home. He also asked that residents lock all doors and windows and keep valuables out of sight in cars.
One distinct increase is in the rape section of the Crime Stats. When asked by a resident about the surge, Chief Pasquarello explained that all four rapes were thoroughly investigated, but that no charges were filed by the Attorney General’s Office.
2 comments:
I attended the meeting, and I really didn't get Chief Pasquarello's discussion of the reported rapes (of minors) in Ward 5. They were reported, the District Attorney didn't file charges, and... we were supposed to think that this meant they didn't really happen, so we shouldn't worry about it? This was the sense I got from his statement, which rubbed me the wrong way-- it's really hard to get a conviction, and that doesn't mean nothing happened. He really apologetically said that he "still had to include them in the data" (paraphrased), as if he didn't even think they should be reported to the public.
Not everyone charged with breaking into cars in Ward 5 gets convicted, but I don't see the chief going back and wanting to edit those numbers to argue that the cars were actually not broken into.
I asked him about that after the meeting and it was a custody battle between a married couple where the kids accused one of the parents. The rape was reported so it had to be included in the stats.
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