It’s been a busy summer for the police department. Recent media coverage of a high-profile case where an innocent child lost their life can make one question the level of safety in Kent. While horribly tragic, it was an isolated incident.
I can tell you this … Kent is a safe city, and the statistics back it up.
A lot of our work at the police department is driven by data. In 2007, we implemented an Intelligence Led Policing (ILP) strategy and have been refining it since. Utilized successfully by police departments all across the country, the basic idea of ILP is to deploy police resources to areas that will give us the highest likelihood of success in combating crime.
We start by reviewing calls for service, crime reports, resident complaints and intelligence information on a weekly basis. Using this data, we deploy our officers and detectives to these “hot spots” and focus on “high impact offenders.” This ILP strategy works so well because it’s a known fact that a relatively small number of people are responsible for committing the majority of crimes.
I am proud of our police department and happy to report that our ILP efforts have been extremely successful. We work very hard to keep our community safe and ensure a high quality of life for those who make Kent their home. You don’t have to take my word for it; crime rates back it up.
Crime rates are obtained by taking the number and type of crimes reported over a period of time; dividing that number by the population of the jurisdiction, and multiplying it by 1,000. The result is the number of each type of crime that occurred per 1,000 population – the crime rate.
Since ILP was implemented, Kent’s crime rates have dramatically reduced. In fact, Kent has some of the lowest crime rates among the cities of Auburn, Des Moines, Federal Way, Renton, Seattle and Tacoma. I invite readers to verify this information at the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs website at WASPC.org.
Violent crime and safety is something that many residents are concerned about for themselves and their families. A review of the data for aggravated assault shows Kent’s crime rate in 2014 was 1.11 per 1,000 people for a city of more than 120,000. Compared to the crime rate in 2006 (when the population was 86,607), the number was 3.04. The aggravated assault rate in 2014 was roughly one-third of what is was in 2006, with a 63 percent reduction. And, comparing this crime rate with other cities in the region, Kent’s rate is the lowest. In fact, it is 78 percent less than the highest crime rate among compared cities. A review of the numbers for the first six months of 2015 shows the same trend, with Kent’s crime rate for aggravated assaults 21 percent lower than those in the first half of 2014.
Likewise, a review of the crime rates for robbery shows that Kent is on the lower end of the compared jurisdictions. In 2014, Kent had the second lowest robbery crime rate at 1.32. The highest crime rate of the cities used for comparison was 2.54, meaning Kent’s crime rate was 48 percent lower than the highest rate among compared cities. In 2006, the robbery crime rate in Kent was 2.80. Kent’s 2014 crime rate for robbery was nearly 53 percent lower than it was in 2006. And, the numbers for the half of this year are trending lower than those in 2014, with an 11 percent reduction.
And a quality-of-life crime that can have a significant impact on our community is burglaries. A review shows Kent’s crime rate during the first half of 2015 at 1.82, with the highest city being at 3.56 residential burglaries per thousand residents. That’s nearly 49 percent higher than Kent’s crime rate.
These numbers are not intended to give the impression that Kent is crime free, or that our officers are not kept busy on a daily and weekly basis. The periodic public safety reports I present at City Council meetings include the many incidents that take up our police officers’ time for response, investigation and follow-up.
While we are busy, what I hope is apparent to readers after seeing our crime rates, is that crime is far below what it was before ILP was implemented, and is among the lowest in the region.
Unless one associates with those who break the law, Kent is safe for most residents. This is good news, not only for those who live and work here, but for those families and/or businesses looking to locate here. People don’t need to fear for their safety while out of their homes or out on a walk in the evening.
Aggressively fighting crime and keeping our community safe is not something that can effectively be done by the police alone. In many ways, the public-at-large plays a part in how safe the community is. It is through great partnerships like Block and Business Watch, and events such as National Night Out where our Community Education Unit educates residents on how to prevent crime and report anything suspicious.
All of these efforts lead to a safer community with a higher quality of life for our residents.
Ken Thomas is chief of the Kent Police Department. Reach him at 253-856-5200 or kthomas@kentwa.gov.
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