RACINE - Earlier this month, a resident of James Boulevard found two people trying to break into his house. They ran from him, but he followed them in his truck and gave Racine police directions to the would-be burglars over the phone.
The two men were arrested.
In September, a resident of the 2100 block of West Lawn Avenue noticed someone walking around a neighbor's home, pushing on window screens and then kicking in the front door. She called police, and officers found and arrested a teenager involved.
But the call also led police to find a marijuana-growing operation in the burglary victim's house.
On Aug. 27, a gas station manager fed up with being ripped off by a serial gas thief followed him as he sped away from the Durand Mart, 3900 Durand Ave. The 48-year-old alleged gas thief caused a traffic crash while fleeing and was arrested on multiple charges.
The list goes on.
In recent months, a trend seems to have developed in the Racine community. People don't appear to be as willing to let crime happen, to themselves or their neighbors.
"Crime is all of our business," said Racine Police Chief Kurt Wahlen. "There does seem to be a number of people stepping up to the plate. With homicides, people have come forward. We've even had a relative of a criminal come to the Police Department to identify his son as being involved in a weapons violation."
This trend may even be a factor in decreasing crime here. The September 2009 year-to-date monthly report from the Racine Police Department shows decreases in nearly every single crime category.
More serious crimes, which law enforcement label as Part One crimes, are homicide, robbery, forcible rape, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, auto theft and arson. These are down by 16.28 percent from last year. Violent crimes are down from 428 in September of 2008 to 314.
Part Two crimes - which include fraud, theft, forgery, misdemeanor assaults and sexual assaults, drug violations, and gambling - are down from 5,526 to 4,940 this year. The only crime category with any increase, according to the report, is misdemeanor assaults, which rose from 719 last year to 762 this year.
"I'd love to take credit for the whole thing," Wahlen said. But he believes many community factors contribute to the amount of crime we have here. The weather, economy, community programs and enforcement are all a part of it.
"We've been fairly aggressive," Wahlen said. "I'd like to think we have a pretty good grip on things."
Community policing, working with the Racine County Sheriff's Department on special enforcement when it's needed, the work of the Gang Unit and its recent arrest of 40-some known gang members, have all had an effect on the community, Wahlen said. Also helping are programs like Neighborhood Watch, gang diversion for kids and the Community Re-entry program for people getting out of prison, he said.
"It's nice to see (crime) dropping," Wahlen said.
But authorities admit that reduced crime is not what they expected during a time when unemployment is high and so many people are struggling financially.
"I think people are more sensitive," said police spokesman Sgt. Bernie Kupper. "People are thinking harder about self-preservation. The economic times have hit everyone."
Racine Neighborhood Watch Program Director Mary McIlvaine said she also believes part of the reduced crime has to do with open lines of communication between the police department and the community.
She said during recent First District Neighborhood Watch Group meetings, residents told Community Policing Officer Brad Jungbluth about some pretty serious nuisance issues and criminal activity.
"It has all been resolved," McIlvaine said. "If you do communicate with the Police Department, they become aware and can act on it."
Neighborhood Watch also likes that there seems to be more people watching out for their neighbors as well, she said.
"I find it really encouraging that there is a sense of people looking out for each other more and being protective of each other," McIlvaine said.
