7 JUN 05: SAFE OR OUT?

So to borrow from that e-mailer -- "IsOurCitySafe" or not? The F.B.I. issued its annual report Monday on crime in Columbus and more than 200 other U.S. cities. It's officially called the "Uniform Crime Report" - which surprises me, because I figured police officers would complain about that title being a slap at them.

There appears to be something for both sides of the public safety argument in the F.B.I. report. It shows violent crime in Columbus went up 8.1 percent last year. But property crime went down 3.5 percent. So perhaps this shows more people want to hurt other people for no good reason....

Based on cases reported to police, Columbus had increases in three of the four "violent crime" categories last year. The one exception was a 2.4 percent decline in "aggravated assault." Be honest now - don't you feel 2.4 percent less aggravated than you did in 2003?

Columbus also had increases in two of the three "property crime" areas in 2004. But the number of larceny and theft cases fell by more than eight percent. My theory is that northern transplants are moving to Harris and Lee Counties - you know, the people more likely to use words such as "larceny."

If you dare to combine both major crime areas, Columbus shows a 2.9 percent decline for 2004. The mayor and his backers will see that, and declare the city safe. The cynics will suggest many crimes went unreported, because victims figured police precincts are closed for lack of staff.

There's one ominous statistic which isn't figured by the F.B.I. as either violent or property crime. It's arson - and the number of cases in Columbus jumped 62.5 percent last year. Will someone tell the people at Mockingbird Mobile Home Park they do NOT need to set a city record for this?

One person told me Monday you really shouldn't compare these numbers year-to-year, but look at long-term trends. So in tandem with WXTX "News at Ten," we checked F.B.I. data back to 2001. In five out of eight areas, the numbers went up and down in that span - amazingly, much like staffing at the police department.

Three areas of crime in Columbus are consistent since 2001, and they're all increasing. Arson is up almost sixfold. Burglary is up more than 27 percent. And auto theft has jumped 69 percent - which should bring calls from someone at Columbus Council to ban the "Grand Theft Auto" video games.

How does Columbus compare with similar-sized cities in the South? First of all, I challenge you to say "similar-sized cities in the South" five times fast without giggling....

Montgomery isn't that much bigger than Columbus in population, yet the F.B.I. report shows it has 44 percent more violent crime. You'd think the property crime number would be that much higher -- considering the Alabama legislature meets in Montgomery, and is tempted to steal all the time.

While the Columbus murder count jumped last year, the F.B.I. numbers reveal Atlanta's homicide count went down 23 percent. Maybe all the rap stars are moving to suburbs like College Park and Doraville....

When you place all the F.B.I. numbers on the table, I doubt they'll settle the argument about public safety in Columbus. That's because it's much like looking at a half-filled glass of water -- and police backers want more water poured in before they drink it all down.

E-MAIL UPDATE: We have our first e-mail from a Columbus civil rights advocate -- and you may be surprised to learn he did NOT call for a boycott of this blog....

The e-mail related to our topic of last Friday:

Greetings Sir,

Thank you for mentioning AntonioCarter.Com on your blog!

It was an interesting artcile and I certainly enjoyed reading it!

I will be adding your link ASAP!

Peace & Blessings

"The Young Lion", Ant Carter

Peace to you as well, sir - but "The Young Lion"?! Is Antonio Carter appearing on Georgia Championship Wrestling cards on weekends?

(And oh yes - is this man a "Lion" or an "Ant?" He certainly sounds like the former, when people try to step on him like he's the latter.)

Now other odds and ends from the Monday menagerie:

+ An afternoon severe thunderstorm soaked much of Columbus. In fact, WRBL reported Columbus had rain for the ninth day in a row. Doesn't anybody at Fort Benning have power to ban the showers for a few days?

+ The thunderstorm postponed the Georgia AAA baseball finals, between Columbus High and Shaw. They'll try again today, only this time at Golden Park. Uh-oh - given what happened there when rain fell a few years ago, the title might not be decided until July.

+ Meanwhile, Russell County's Colby Rasmus was named Alabama's "Mr. Baseball" for 2005. This should give him several important advantages down the road. For instance, he can go up to college girls and say: "Hi, I'm Mr. Baseball. Want to try for a double play?"

+ Instant Message to Chuck in Phenix City: Yes, we DO have "competing blogs." We're competing for many things -- the most readers, the most interesting and newsworthy items to post, the most mentions by Robbie Watson on "TalkLine...."

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