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Crime rate questioned

The Bakersfield Californian | Tuesday, Jul 1 2008 8:07 PM

Last Updated: Tuesday, Jul 1 2008 8:10 PM

I applaud the recent crime rate chart by The Californian and its comparison of Bakersfield's crime rate to other similar cities. Although the reporter asserted that the "overall rate [was] down" in Bakersfield, I couldn't help noticing the fact that five of the eight categories had crime rate increases. I guess its all in the interpretation.

The comparison cities used (Fresno, Stockton, Sacramento and Riverside) had more crime rate decreases than Bakersfield simply because public safety is truly a priority to those cities' officials.

I mean, what city would let its police department operate with 26 unfilled police officer positions and have no plans to fill them? Bakersfield. What city would devote less than a third of its operating budget to public safety when other cities devote two thirds? Bakersfield.

What city has had no reaction to agencies like the Kern County Sheriff's Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the California Department of Corrections, the California Highway Patrol, and even the Oakland Police Department recruiting here and luring prospective Bakersfield Police Officers away with substantially better pay and benefit packages? You guessed it, Bakersfield.

I always thought that the primary reason for a city to incorporate was to provide better public safety (police and fire) services to its citizens. I guess I was wrong.

Now I'm no statistician and I can't see into the future, but this looks like a recipe for increasing crime rates to me. We'll see when the next chart comes out.

TODD DICKSON

Bakersfield