Really, nothing new to report. The distribution of homicides has remained the same since the start of the year, with the San Gabriel Valley and the San Bernardino area consistently showing higher numbers than Pomona Valley. Of the cities in Pomona Valley, Pomona shows the most homicides with 2 for the month of August. San Dimas, Upland, and Chino Hills each experienced one.
For the year, Rancho and Claremont appear to be homicide free. Ontario is also having a great year, with two homicides, one of which was an officer-involved shooting. I've recorded 10 homicides in Pomona (not including the murder of Eileen Nicole Orta, whose body was found in a van in Pomona Civic Center parking lot). At this rate, Pomona would reach 15 by the end of 2008. Based on the last 23 years of data from the US Department of Justice, Pomona has never had less than 16 homicides, and the city's homicide count has dropped below 20 only six times.
Combined map of June, July, and August.
6 comments:
So if we have 15 this year it'll be a good year?
If you are a family member of the 16th homicide victim, then you'd think only reaching 15 was a great thing. Of course, the family/friends of the 15th, would be ecstatic to stop at 14.
Any downward trend is a great thing to me.
I'm sure that any number over 0 is considered bad to all of us. But looking at history it's not something we can expect. Many murders are unpreventable. How do you prevent someone, in the privacy of their own home, going into a rage over something and committing murder? The issue is those murders that can be prevented, such as gang murders or murders in public places. I think that the downtrend in homicides shows that the police department is doing its job in those cases. Is it everything we can hope for? No, but at least it's improving. A lot more than can be said of those areas to the east and west of us as Ed's map clearly shows.
Interesting related post at the Pasadena Star News (http://www.insidesocal.com/pasadenapolitics/2008/09/violent-crimes-up-in-pasadena.html).
It seems that crime is up in Pasadena and the rest of east LA County. While Pomona isn't mentioned. If we go by Ed's maps we can see that Pomona gets a lot of badmouthing where we're not anywhere near the worst part of east LA County.
How does a city reinvent itself after it's been labeled crime-ridden? I think GofP sums it up nicely when she points to the presence of two Pomonas. Are the two Pomonas represented by poor areas with crime and wealthier areas with little crime? Or in the last ten years have we seen a new Pomona emerge, and that second Pomona is primarily found in the minds of many, both in the city and out, who still see the city as it was 15-20 years ago?
I'm hoping it's the latter.
Unfortunately, the perception will be slow in coming as certain forces within the city strive to accent the negative. While possibly well meaning, the Habla Pomona group gets a lot of attention that makes Pomona look like a place to avoid. Who wants to go to a place where the police are under attack and the community doesn't want laws enforced?
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