Central City Gazette Police Beat
Thursday, July 1st, 1993
Leslie Lawless
The Central City Police Department provided the city’s residents with some good news to celebrate the holiday weekend. According to departmental statistics for the last five months, arrests for violent crime have hit a thirteen year low. Corresponding statistics show that the district attorney’s office has convicted ninety-two percent of cases since the beginning of the year. Not since the days of a circuit judge has the city enjoyed such a high percentage of convictions.
Police Chief Craig “Bull” Rudzewicz would like you to believe that the mass arrests performed in late January have both cleared the streets of a demonstrable criminal presence while providing the justice system with cases as good as closed.
Do we believe the city’s top cop?
While driving through SOCCs the evening before last, this reporter witnessed at least a half-dozen felonies committed in plain view. While I wouldn’t recommend the average citizen take a casual drive through the city’s most dangerous neighborhood after dark, my experience suggests there may arresting evidence to this story concerning our city’s convictions.
Ninety-eight percent of the mass arrests made in January occurred north of the river, with the lion’s share in Midtown, Uptown, and Waite Park. Over the last decade, seventy-seven percent of crimes were reported south of the river. The further south, the higher the rate of incidents and the further one gets from January’s arrests.
According to court records, The Central City District Attorney and Shattuck County District Attorneys have a combined 62% conviction rate over the past twenty years, although only about 31% of cases ever result in charges.
89% of the arrests made in January resulted in charges filed and all but three resulted in convictions or plea deals.
Could it be that criminal activity migrated north, which finally provided the police an opportunity to make prosecutable arrests?
Forgive this reporter if she’s suspicious.
