Crime in Hammond down in 2012
By Lori Caldwell lcaldwell@post-trib.com|648-3258 January 10, 2013 2:56PM
Updated: February 12, 2013 2:36PM
HAMMOND — Crime in Hammond dropped about 6 percent last year compared to 2011, Chief Brian Miller reported.
Homicides were reduced by 30 percent — from nine to six violent deaths.
The chief released the year’s statistics that were submitted to the FBI for its annual uniform crime report.
One area that showed a significant increase was assaults, up from 311 to 452. Miller speculated that domestic violence incidents contributed to the rise.
“Some of it is the economy,” the chief said. He said some victims may also be more comfortable reporting their assaults to police.
Miller credits “the great work done by our officers and detectives” for the overall decrease.
Another contributor is a program developed with the city’s building code enforcement department.
“We have a few problem landlords,” the chief explained. If police return to the same rental address many times for the similar calls, the city cites the landlord for maintaining a common nuisance. “We make the landlord explain what he’s going to do about it.”
The number of crimes reported in 2011 was 4,406, compared with 4,149 in 2012.
