03-28-2010, 01:48 PM
Crime down in Zephyrhills
By LAURA KINSLER
lkinsler@tampatrib.com
Published: March 28, 2010
ZEPHYRHILLS - In its first year under the leadership of Chief David Shears, the Zephyrhills Police Department saw a nearly 15 percent drop in crime.
The number of reported crimes in 2009 dropped in every category except for burglary, which rose by 3 percent. There were no homicides in the city limits in 2008 or 2009.
Shears credits a shift in philosophy, with more emphasis on traffic control. Zephyrhills police wrote 33 percent more traffic citations in 2009. Operations Division Commander Jeff McDougal said the stepped up traffic enforcement had a direct correlation to reduction in traffic fatalities and to the overall crime rate.
Shears and McDougal also assigned the department's TACT, or Taking Action on Community Trends, Team to focus on the city's downtown historic district and two area parks where crimes were trending up.
McDougal said he wanted more police visibility in those neighborhoods to enforce minor violations. They also worked closely with Code Enforcement officers to keep the criminal element from moving into neighborhoods where there were a high number of foreclosures and abandoned homes.
"I wanted those officers to be well-rounded," he said. "They addressed ordinance and code violations. The whole point was to get them out of the car and doing what they're supposed to do."
Shears said the poor economy is likely to blame for the growing number of domestic disturbances.
"Our domestic violence rate went up 12 percent," Shears said. "But that's not something we can control - what goes on in people's homes."
One area where the chief expects to see improvement in 2010 is the recovery of stolen property. The department recovered less than half of the more than $1.5 million of property reported stolen in 2009. The department will implement a new software program in April that automatically scans pawn tickets to compare with items that were reported stolen.
Shears also plans to resurrect the department's bicycle patrol units. Shears, who joined the department in 1992, was a member of the patrol early in his career.
By LAURA KINSLER
lkinsler@tampatrib.com
Published: March 28, 2010
ZEPHYRHILLS - In its first year under the leadership of Chief David Shears, the Zephyrhills Police Department saw a nearly 15 percent drop in crime.
The number of reported crimes in 2009 dropped in every category except for burglary, which rose by 3 percent. There were no homicides in the city limits in 2008 or 2009.
Shears credits a shift in philosophy, with more emphasis on traffic control. Zephyrhills police wrote 33 percent more traffic citations in 2009. Operations Division Commander Jeff McDougal said the stepped up traffic enforcement had a direct correlation to reduction in traffic fatalities and to the overall crime rate.
Shears and McDougal also assigned the department's TACT, or Taking Action on Community Trends, Team to focus on the city's downtown historic district and two area parks where crimes were trending up.
McDougal said he wanted more police visibility in those neighborhoods to enforce minor violations. They also worked closely with Code Enforcement officers to keep the criminal element from moving into neighborhoods where there were a high number of foreclosures and abandoned homes.
"I wanted those officers to be well-rounded," he said. "They addressed ordinance and code violations. The whole point was to get them out of the car and doing what they're supposed to do."
Shears said the poor economy is likely to blame for the growing number of domestic disturbances.
"Our domestic violence rate went up 12 percent," Shears said. "But that's not something we can control - what goes on in people's homes."
One area where the chief expects to see improvement in 2010 is the recovery of stolen property. The department recovered less than half of the more than $1.5 million of property reported stolen in 2009. The department will implement a new software program in April that automatically scans pawn tickets to compare with items that were reported stolen.
Shears also plans to resurrect the department's bicycle patrol units. Shears, who joined the department in 1992, was a member of the patrol early in his career.