Chief Settingsgaard speaks to crime in peoria
By admin | 2nd July 2007
By Jackie Nelson
Chief Settingsgaard, Peoria’s newest police chief, has had a rough year. The wave of homicides in Peoria has left residents shaken. Early in the year, Peoria’s murder rate has swiftly climbed to eleven homicides already this year.
Peoria Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard said Peorians should not fear what appears to be a rise in crime. “There are no more shootings than there were last year, the lethality has increased, not the shooting rate,” said Settingsgaard in a telephone interview on May 25.
He also attributed much of the violence to gang and drug related activity. He reiterated “[Looking] over the eight homicides this year, and I would comfortably say that more than half of them are attributable to gangs and/or drugs. Some of the remaining may be indirectly related but it is difficult to say with surety.”
Many Peoria residents may feel that the surge in homicides is indicative of a crime wave. However, statistics of crime in Peoria tell a different story. In the early months of 2007, violent crimes and property crimes were down 20%. Also, the chances of being killed in a homicide in Peoria are 1 in 14,113.
These numbers seem encouraging, unless one finds themselves or someone close to them a victim. Chief Settingsgaard has also been working to prevent crime.
Upon his arrival Settingsgaard set new schedules to better reflect the police needs in the city. He created overlapping shifts during the busiest hours, between 5 p.m. and 12 a.m. He also revived the Gang Unit, putting officers in positions to monitor activity as well as recognize known gang members.
The previous system for identifying gang members relied on ‘street names.’ The new system, which is accessible to all officers via in-car computers, identifies known gang members by their street name, real name, physical description, and identifying marks such as scars of tattoos. An officer can enter any piece of information and be instantly presented with name, address, description and criminal record.
Settingsgaard is hoping that be being able to identify known gang members and where gangs are concentrated he will be better able to saturate these areas with patrolmen and women thus reducing crime.
Peorians should feel safer knowing that Chief Settingsgaard and his officers are working hard to make Peoria a safer place. When looking at comparable cities, Peoria’s homicide rate of 14 in 2006 was below that of rate in Toledo with 28, Wichita with 29, Fort Wane with 25, but above that of Springfield IL with 5.