Pubdate: Thu, 01 Jan 2004
Source: Greensboro News & Record (NC)
Copyright: 2004 Greensboro News & Record, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.news-record.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/173
Author: Eric Collins

CHIEF: DRUGS SPUR RISE IN ASSAULTS

HIGH POINT -- Police Chief Jim Fealy is concerned about the significant 
increase in aggravated assault victims in the city last year but says he 
believes the department's new strategy to fight street-level drug dealing 
should help lower the figure in 2004.

As of Sunday, 490 people were victims of aggravated assault, about 80 more 
than all of 2002.

"We're trying to figure out why and what we can do about it," Fealy said 
this week while discussing the department's preliminary year-end crime 
statistics.

Those figures, which are current through Sunday, show that overall, serious 
crime in the city grew about 1 percent last year compared with 2002.

Robberies were down slightly, from 268 in 2002 to 263 last year, while 
rapes remained steady at 34 and homicides were up three, from six in 2002 
to nine last year. Burglaries increased about 5 percent, from 1,479 in 2002 
to 1,548 last year while thefts and thefts of vehicles dropped slightly.

"Overall I'm pretty positive about it," Fealy said.

He attributes the low growth in reported crime in 2003 partly to his 
department's restructuring in July, which increased the number of officers 
on the streets during peak call times.

In addition to reducing response times, it gave officers more time to 
patrol and be proactive instead of running from call to call, Fealy said.

"Every week, almost daily, I see a good felony arrest where somebody was 
caught in the act or shortly after," said Maj. Marty Sumner, who oversees 
south High Point for the department.

Violent crime in the city has dropped significantly since 1997, when police 
investigated a near-record 16 homicides.

Though aggravated assaults were up in 2003, they didn't eclipse the 551 
reported in 1997.

Part of what is driving this year's figure, Fealy said, is that numerous 
aggravated assaults involve multiple victims, and the police department now 
counts each victim for its year-end tally. The 490 people were involved in 
375 separate incidents, according to the department.

Fealy says he believes drug dealing is to blame for the increasing assault 
numbers. In addition, at least five or six of the city's nine homicides can 
be linked to drugs, he said.

In one case this year, police said a man was charged with shooting up a 
known drug house and killing a resident because he was fed up with a family 
member getting drugs from those inside.

Police plan to announce a new strategy this month to target repeat, violent 
drug dealers. That strategy will be modeled after the city's Violent Crimes 
Task Force. For several years, members of the task force have called in 
violent or repeat offenders to the police department and told them to stop 
breaking the law or face prison. Community members have offered help for 
those wanting to turn their lives around.

As with that task force, federal authorities have agreed to get involved in 
the drug dealing issue because federal sentences are often harsher than 
state sentences for similar crimes.

"We want them to know we're coming," Fealy said.
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