We expect many things out of our public officials. We also recognize the responsibilities of a career in public service can become quite heavy. Having to atone for things you don’t necessarily control must seem thankless. Perhaps no one in Pine Bluff has more weight on their shoulders than Police Chief Brenda Davis-Jones.
Last week, Davis-Jones reported departmental figures purporting to reflect a drop in crimes known to the police. We certainly hope that is the case. Within her report, a small, but important sticking point emerged.
That point has to do with the number of Uniform Crime Report, Part 1, reportable homicides that took place in Pine Bluff during 2011. To fully explain this (somewhat technical) point, a little background is necessary.
Every law enforcement agency in Arkansas is obliged to report to the Arkansas Crime Information Center how many offenses were committed within their jurisdiction each month. ACIC collects data on a number of very specific offense categories. That agency, in turn, reports statewide statistics to the FBI’s UCR national program.
In order that every agency reports the same thing in the same way, the FBI established official offense definitions. For instance, the UCR definition for homicide reads, “Criminal homicide – Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter: the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Obviously, we cannot know the true intent of every person responsible for death in this city. Fortunately, we don’t need to know. According to the Arkansas State Medical Examiner’s office, 17 deaths in Pine Bluff were ruled a homicide. While the Medical Examiner doesn’t make UCR classification rulings, the conclusions reached by that office merit deference. Moreover, we are willing to bet the three families of the “disputed” homicides regard the deaths as such.
This then forces us to explore possible motives for re-crafting history. Certainly, we would rather there were fewer needless, violent deaths in our community. Even so, disingenuously clinging to 14 when the facts suggest 17 is more accurate, is just bad form.
Beyond that, 14 homicides simply means we have a murder rate in excess of six times the national average instead of seven. Does that split hair make anyone feel more safe? Clad in the knowledge that we are only six times more likely than the average American to be murdered as opposed to seven… does this really buy us anything? It certainly gets the Chief nothing. Neither does it reap much benefit for Pine Bluff Mayor Carl Redus Jr.’s administration — unless having a police chief that avoids the grim reality of fact counts as a plus.
We are reminded of a time back in May 2011, when Davis-Jones openly disputed that the then-murder rate was on pace to be triple the national average. To be only three times the national murder rate: As “good-ol’-days” go, those are some pretty horrible ones.
While twice quibbling over figures does not a pattern make, neither does it instill much confidence in any of the statistics released by the department.
In closing, we’ll restate our position from last May. We want the police to have all the tools, training and resources they need to effectively address the situations they confront. We have asked a great deal of them and they deserve nothing less. That said, we expect the police administration to be completely forthcoming and absolutely candid about local problems. Crime is as it is. Renaming or reclassifying things to particular political ends hurts more than it helps. It makes it more difficult for the public to trust the police; and of all our difficulties that’s one we still don’t need.