Lawrence crime statistics
Last week we published the press release issued by the Police Chief James Fitzpatrick, stating that crime has decreased by 22% in the first six months of this year. These figures were based on the report sent to the FBI called Part I Crimes. Since Part I does not include the majority of the crimes our community is subjected to on a daily basis such as assault and battery, vandalism, malicious destruction of property, street fighting, shots being fired, violations to the noise ordinance, etc. so, I wanted to get my hands on a report showing the prevalence of those crimes.
I requested Part II from the Police chief under the Freedom of Information Act and this is the response I received from him: “We do not currently compile data from part two crimes. We will be able to do this once we upgrade to a national incident based reporting system.”
Well, somebody is compiling them, Chief, because I have figures for 2014 and the first half of 2015.
| 2014 | 2015 (First Half of Year) | |
|---|---|---|
| Assault & Battery | 216 | 204 |
| A&B progress | 52 | 42 |
| Malicious damage | 415 | 394 |
| Fights | 327 | 289 |
| Shots fired | 123 | 113 |
| Disorderly | 215 | 233 |
| Disturbances | 937 | 1021 |
| Noise | 1546 | 1803 |
| Gun call | 73 | 67 |
| Suspicious person or motor vehicle | 112 | 146 |
When it comes to calls to the station related to the noise ordinance, in 2013 there were almost 500; in 2014 it went up to 1,546; and thus far in the first half of 2015, there are 1,803 calls for violations.
Meanwhile, I checked some of the categories on Part I and the numbers show that those crimes have indeed gone down from 2014 to 2015 according to police records. Perhaps it has to do with the way crimes are recorded or downgraded.
Hit and run
When Andres Chamorro had his 2014 Corvette smashed in Lawrence, he was more than upset. He thought it was a hit and run because the driver who hit him identified himself as a police officer in hot pursuit of another car and promised he would be back. Having waited a while, he called the police station to tell them what had happened.
When the story reached me, I was told that the police officer Mark Ciccarelli never came back. I set out to investigate because I understand that the City of Lawrence has a “no pursuit policy” except in cases of witnessing a crime being committed, but received no cooperation from the police chief, except that the car was registered to someone in Bourne, MA (Cape Cod).
Thanks to the internet, I was able to find all the information I needed and discovered that the car is owned by Andres Chamorro and it is a 2014 Chevrolet Corvette. All sort of speculations crossed my mind but I pursued my quest. He was kind enough to call me back with his version of the accident.
He happens to be a well-established businessman who was visiting his sister in Lawrence when the crash occurred. Although he didn’t see it because he was inside the house, his wife and nephew were outside and witnessed it.
Andres told me that he grew up in Lawrence and his family still lives here so he often comes to visit the city.
He was quick to explain that Officer Ciccarelli did return to the scene, contrary to what I was told. “He is a very nice guy. He felt very badly for the accident and was very apologetic,” he told me.
Mr. Chamorro said that the car repairs are over $3,000 but the insurance company will only pay around $1,300. At my suggestion of suing the city for the difference, he was very resolute: “I’ll eat the $2,000; I’m not that kind of person.”
And again, before we ended our conversation, he reassured me his good feelings about Officer Ciccarelli. “He is the nicest guy!”
Nevertheless, I am puzzled by the accident report filed by Officer Ciccarelli. He claims to have been conducting a “drug surveillance when he backed out of the driveway and struck the legally parked car on Harriman St.”
Whether his statement is correct or he was in hot pursuit of another car, the city is at fault and Mr. Chamorro should not have “to eat” the balance on the repairs not covered by the insurance company.
The Wendy Show
Oh, I know that the original premise of that radio program on WCEC 1490 AM was to inform directly from the mayor’s office. Instead, it’s only about public service announcements, promotion of community events and lots of advice on domestic violence and prevention.
The public outcry over the city engineer position being filled by an agronomist just because he worked on the mayor’s campaign has not changed anything. Mayor Dan Rivera feels omnipotent and shunts aside laws and rules as he pleases and Theodoro Rosario remains on the job – supposedly studying to pass a test.
Meanwhile, although I have mentioned Wendy Luzón’s name on several occasions, people are not aware that she is just another Theo: incompetent for the title she holds and her job has turned to be just a gofer. She spends most of her day on Facebook. Just check it out for yourself. Each working day from early in the morning, she is posting things that have nothing to do with City Hall.
In a previous column, I recommended to her interviewing people on her radio program from the different city departments regarding their duties so the public has a better understanding of how the city government runs. Instead of taking good advice from me, she got insulted.
Another no-no of this show is playing religious music. If this is a political program, it has to keep the distance from the church and that music is advocating religion.
She cannot be blamed if her intellectual ability won’t permit her to advance but it’s our city officials – the mayor – who should respond to that promise of “finding the best qualified people to work for the city.”
In a recent editorial we wrote that we are not in opposition to a property tax increase because if we demand services, the city has very few options for revenue. What is really shameful is having our tax dollars go to waste on these two individuals.
In Theodore Rosario’s case, considering that he collects a salary as “city engineer,” you would expect to see Lawrence-related items on his Facebook page. Instead, all you see is relative to the Dominican Republic as if Lawrence doesn’t exist.
I also wonder where he finds the time between studying to pass the civil engineering test and his job to maintain the website www.merrimacknews.net which is all about what’s happening in the Dominican Republic. He collects a salary here but his mind and interests are over there. At least, he’s very careful to post his articles in the evening or before 8 o’clock in the morning, although a few times he has done it during his work day.
What is most upsetting to me is that I seem to be the only one talking about it.
LCAT
Have you looked at your cable bill recently? We have Verizon and the fee for Local Access Channels that used to be pennies each month, has now gone up to over $3 each month. For what? If you have Comcast, I’m sure it is similar; check it out.
Again, I am the only one ever to make any noise about this issue. If you have Verizon, tune into the stations serving Methuen, Wilmington, Andover and North Andover. Whether the schools channel or the government channel, they all have great quality in picture, color and content.
In Lawrence, we have practically no access to use a service that we are paying for and produce our own shows, terrible productions very often with no sound because they have not learned to run a microphone to the podium, and to top it off, IN BLACK AND WHITE!
Just like the politicians we get, the city services and abuses in general with our money, we have what we deserve for not speaking up.
