New crime statistic released by the Greensboro Police Department today appear to contradict claims made by Bill Knight last year in his successful campaign for mayor.
A GPD press release reports today that violent crime dropped 4 percent and property crime declined by 3 percent in calendar year 2009, compared to the previous year. More dramatically, homicides dropped 28 percent.
The Knight campaign website argued, "The department appears reactive to growing [emphasis mine] crime instead of pursuing vigorous proactive policing in high crime areas. Following a recent string of murders the newspaper reported that the police chief was reviewing the numbers to determine how to respond. The police department should be ahead of the curve on this by deploying sufficient experienced officers on patrol, particularly at night and on weekends. High police visibility, particularly in troubled areas, supported by efficient intelligence gathering capability, will serve to deter further criminal activity."
Influential Knight supporter Joe Guarino continually emphasized crime in blog posts in the weeks leading up to the election, claiming that the city was suffering from "epidemic crime conditions."
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