Safety & Security
One of the board’s top priorities is student and staff safety. Part of our due diligence on any potential new location for MPA is to review the crime statistics. One of our Facilities Expansion Committee members who is an officer with the GCRTA police force has obtained crime data for both our current site on Triskett and the proposed site on W. 53rd Street & Walworth. The crime statistics below are based on the hours between 0600 and 1800 (6 am to 6 pm), as these hours are when employees, students and/or parents would most likely be at either site. For each area, similarly sized surrounding areas were utilized in gathering the data.
The data shows a lower level of overall crime in the Walworth neighborhood. Similar patterns are revealed when the crime data is broken down into several crime categories.
2011
|
2012
|
2013
|
2014*
|
|||||
Triskett
|
W. 53rd
|
Triskett
|
W. 53rd
|
Triskett
|
W. 53rd
|
Triskett
|
W. 53rd
|
|
Thefts
|
49
|
43
|
57
|
37
|
58
|
49
|
60
|
32
|
Assaults
|
27
|
25
|
23
|
24
|
28
|
26
|
20
|
18
|
Burglaries
|
21
|
25
|
21
|
20
|
25
|
24
|
27
|
10
|
Robberies
|
2
|
5
|
4
|
10
|
5
|
7
|
7
|
6
|
Veh.Thefts
|
6
|
10
|
5
|
10
|
10
|
6
|
7
|
2
|
Intimidation
|
10
|
10
|
7
|
6
|
22
|
14
|
17
|
6
|
*2014 data through
October 22, 2014
Crime data for the same range of dates were also reviewed for the hours of 1800 - 0600 (6 pm to 6 am) pertaining to burglaries, breaking and entering and other similar crimes against property. This comparison helps show how both neighborhoods fare with regards to the buildings being broken into after hours. While both areas had low overall numbers for the same nearly 4-year period, crimes against property in the W. 53rd neighborhood were 45% lower than the current Triskett location (34 versus 61).
Because we recognize that these statistics require analysis. It is important to note that the W. 53rd neighborhood is quite different from the Triskett neighborhood in that the W. 53rd area is more isolated with fewer residential units. More restrictive access – there are only limited ways to get to the site, coupled with fewer buildings and residents of the area, limits the opportunities available to the criminal element. The area is buffered to the south by a Norfolk Southern right of way that limits ingress/egress into the area, while Interstate 90 does the same to a lesser extent just north of the neighborhood.
Considering the size of each neighborhood and the lengthy time span covered by the data reviewed, neither location suffers from any rampant crime problem. Neither area had a single homicide during the nearly 4-year time frame, both averaged less than half a serious sex-crime during this time, and between the two areas just over one weapon’s possession arrest a year was made (five for the current location, one for the proposed). Overall, based on the city crime data alone, the immediate surrounding neighborhood for the W. 53rd location appears to be the less crime afflicted area.
