SALT LAKE CITY — The latest version of Salt Lake City's "Crime Control Report" shows overall crime is down 9 percent this year.
Police Chief Mike Brown and Mayor Erin Mendenhall gave the update Monday, unveiling the new crime stats for the third time since the"Crime Control Plan" was rolled out in January 2021.
On top of overall crime being down, Brown and Mendenhall pointed out that violent crime is down 4.5 percent.
While the data shows a decrease in crime, Mendenhall said that doesn't diminish the crime that is taking place on a day-to-day basis.
Despite the decrease in crime, the mayor pointed out that the calls for service are up 8.5 percent in the last year. Mendenhall said that between January 1 and October 2 of 2021, there were 96,523 calls for service. That rose to 104,608 in that same time period so far this year.
During their presentation on Monday, a big focus from both the police chief and mayor was their violent crime reduction plan.
This includes putting officers in areas in the city that are considered hot spots, or prone to violent crime.
Their approach also includes a mid-term strategy, which Salt Lake City Deputy Chief Scott Mourtgos said focuses on problem-oriented, place-based policing.
Chief Brown said all three SLCPD patrol divisions have an identified focus area. These include the "Pioneer Patrol Division," the "Central Patrol Division" and the "Liberty Patrol Division."
All three divisions, according to numbers released Monday, showed a decrease in crime in their focus areas by 28-71 percent.
"These commanders have brought in all the resources of the department, the overtime officers, the mitigation officers, the narcotics, the vice, gangs — they have deployed them into these communities and into these areas," Brown said.
The chief added that these improvements come as his department is down 41 sworn officers. That has led to mandatory overtime shifts, which basically means officers are working an extra day.
"This is the service our community deserves," Brown said.
He said the city recently hired a recruiter that will be devoted to the police department.
SLCPD is offering a $5,000 hiring bonus for lateral officers, meaning officers who leave one geographical area to become employed in another.
Business owners in the Ballpark neighborhood say they are still seeing a high rate of crime.
Bob Danielson with Alpha Munitions has been at his facility just off Paramount Avenue since 2018.
"We have employees that, you know, don't want to leave unless somebody else is out in the parking lot," Danielson said.
In that time, he says he has seen all sorts of crime and activity outside his front door.
"Every type of violent crime possible — knives, firearms, fist fights, rocks being thrown, tons of damage," said Danielson.
He said that has even spilled into his business.
"We've had people walk through our door during our team meetings, threaten us and go absolutely nuts," said Danielson.
Ballpark Community Council Chairwoman Amy Hawkins shared the crime statistics below from the Salt Lake City Government website.
They show that the area has had 461 crimes in 2022 as of September, compared to 433 as of this time last year.
Jim Grisley, the owner of J.M. Grisley Machine Tools, said his business has been located in the Ballpark neighborhood for 65 years.
While he said the latest update about the Crime Control Plan is a step in the right direction, he told FOX 13 News he wants to see it put into action.
"This assault on our businesses and personal property of the Ballpark neighborhood have got to stop," said Grisley.
FOX 13 News asked the police chief and mayor what the goal was for the plan over the next year.
Mayor Mendenhall said they hope to accomplish faster response times, shrink the number of officer vacancies and continue to see the crime numbers in the city come down.
The updated Crime Control Plan can be found here.
