The Point of this blog is to track crime as it happens in the city of Madison and document any discussions that happen regarding that crime or crime in general. There is a concerted effort in the city to downplay what many of us know, crime is getting worse in the city. This has little to do with the recent State Street Shooting, but more to do with the spate of muggings and burglaries. Recent statistics released by the Federal Bureau of Investigations show that over the last two years alone we have had an increase in both violent and property crime. We explored this a bit over on out sister site Dane101 yesterday:
Up from 2004 to 2006:
Violent Crime Overall: 842 to 958
Murder: 3 to 4
Robbery: 292 to 436
Aggravated Assault: 453 to 456
Property Crime Overall: 7,279 to 7,583
Burglary: 1,450 to 1,631
Larceny-Theft: 5,268 to 5,459
Down from 2004 to 2006:
Forcible Rapes: 94 to 62
Grand Theft Auto: 561 to 493
The issue of crime really hit home when one of the owners of Escape Coffeehouse on Williamson Street told us he was assaulted by four men at 1 a.m. This happened as a couple of people watched from down the street and did nothing to intervene. MadCrime101 hopes to encourage individuals to help change the atmosphere by community policing. It is our hope that through the use of digital cameras, camera phones, eyewitness reports, bloggers, and more that we can document what is happening and possibly create change. Anyone interested in helping with this project is encouraged to contact us.
