HUNTINGTON, West Virginia -
"We're continuing to see a decrease in violent crime," said Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook.
It's the message Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook had for city council Monday night. He said overall, crime in the city is down about 3 percent over this time last year.
"I think that is the result of a lot of our initiatives that have been successful and also relying on technology to drive some of the direction of resources," said Holbrook.
Some of those resources have been invested in cameras at Riverfront Park and other parts of the city that have helped investigators. Holbrook sees them as a deterrent that gives police an extra set of eyes.
"If you deploy resources according to what your data is telling you, you are going to have positive results," said Holbrook.
The bad news from the second quarter crime stats, property crimes continue to be a problem because of the drug problem. In the last few months Eli Wilson of Huntington has had two lawn mowers stolen.
"It's incredibly frustrating. It's not just the money. It's one thing, but it stinks especially because of today's economy but it's the peace of mind," said Wilson.
"The downtown area is one of the safest places I've been. I've always felt safe here. I've lived in other parts of the world that are a lot more dangerous than this place," said Tony Szwilski of Huntington.
Overall, Holbrook said he's pleased with the numbers and plans to stay the course as the department begins to tally the crime statistics for the third quarter
Holbrook said there appears to have been no increase in crime as a result of last week's storms.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WOWK. All Rights Reserved.
