Editor’s Note: Due to the recent flare-up in alleged gang activity and homicides, Chief Settingsgaard has re-instated one gang intelligence officer from patrol duty for 120 days to work with detectives to solve these murders.]

Latest national trend FBI statistics show violent crime declining 5.5 per cent in 2009 for the third year and property crime falling nearly 5 per cent for the seventh consecutive year. And, even though the City of Peoria’s Crime Summary through May 2010 shows an overall 15 per cent decline in violent crime from 2009’s year to date statistics, the numbers can be misleading.
As bullets have been flying in various city neighborhoods, the murder rate is up 200 per cent in Peoria this year, with a 12 per cent increase from last year in aggravated assaults as of June 1, 2010, according to the Crime Summary. To wit, there have been 246 aggravated assaults by June 1st of this year compared to 2009’s 219 year to date totals, and the murder rate during the same period in Peoria is 12 compared to 4 murders by this time in 2009. (There have been three more homicides since June 1.)
Additionally, compared to national statistics’ 5 per cent decrease for the same period, Peoria’s 1,828 property crimes in 2008 increased to 1,946 in 2009. Also, Peoria’s 2009’s burglary rate was 507 compared to 552 burglaries by June 1 this year, along with 1,422 thefts compared to 2009’s 1,287 thefts, or a 9 and 10 per cent increase, respectively, over the same period.
Given these statistics, one assumes the City Council would seriously consider increasing the police department’s numbers instead of eliminating 33 sworn officer positions that were either retired or eliminated last year. However, the opposite seems to be the case due to a several thousand dollar deficit in the Council’s 2010 budget due to an unanticipated shortfall in property tax revenues.
Whether or not the police department has to incorporate further budget cuts or layoffs, it’s rather disturbing to note current force reductions and adjustments already in place according to a December 2, 2009 police department publicity release, to wit:
CHANGES IN INVESTIGATIVE FUNCTIONS:
· The Gang Intelligence Unit shall be eliminated and both detectives reassigned to patrol resulting in a significant decline in the department’s ability to track gang activity and members.
·  The 5th shift (8:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m.) of Criminal Investigation Division (CID) eliminated and reassigned to other CID shifts as well as patrol. (On-call detectives will be utilized after midnight.)
· Withdrawal from the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) so one more officer can be assigned to patrol.
· Withdrawal from the MEG Unit (metro area drug unit).
CHANGES IN PATROL OPERATIONS:
· The 4th patrol shift (noon – 8:00 p.m.) will be eliminated and reassigned to remaining shifts helping to control overtime costs.
· Shift strengths will be reduced in 2010. Each of the four patrol shifts will have minimum staff lowered by one position. It will result in fewer officers on the street when there are more absences than normal.
· Street Crimes Unit will be reduced to ten officers covering two  shifts (previously had 15 officers). Those extra five officers re-assigned to routine patrol.
· Traffic unit’s 3rd shift eliminated with a trained traffic investigator on-call on overtime in case of fatal or near-fatal accidents. Additionally, 3rd shift patrol officers will be required to investigate crashes that were formerly handled by the Traffic Unit and required to process their own D.U.I. arrests.
· Saturation Patrol Funding cut by 50 per cent from $100,000 to $50,000 for hiring officers on overtime to conduct saturation patrols, this requiring the department to hone in on locations and days of the week that historically need attention.
· One K-9 position eliminated. Bomb detection K-9 duties will require State Police assistance.
So one wonders, is this the end of the police department cuts? Mayor Jim Ardis is still anticipating further reductions to the budget. To date, his attempts to get more wage concessions from the police union have been met with little enthusiasm.