14 JAN 09: Half-Ounces of Prevention?

The numbers were surprising - but it was because they were so good. New F.B.I. data shows violent crime in Columbus was down 22 percent in the first half of 2008, compared with the first half of 2007. Yes, crime was DOWN -- even before the July 2008 vote on the one-percent sales tax. So do we win an extended tax holiday next summer?

Mayor Jim Wetherington fulfilled one promise of the "streets and safety" sales tax vote Tuesday, by announcing the members of a new Crime Prevention Commission. Some of the names actually were leaked in the last few days - so let's be thankful it's not a commission doing undercover investigations.

Mayor Wetherington named fellow loyal Democrat attorney Frank Myers the chair of the Crime Prevention Commission. Myers promised Columbus Council his group "will depend on the local law enforcement." So stop the rumors about those Fort Benning soldiers doing tests on Front Avenue....

But it was surprising to hear Frank Myers tell WRBL as far as he knew, "we don't much crime prevention going on right now.... We have the bare bones programs...." Snoop around the Columbus city web site, and you'll find five different programs in a "Crime Prevention Unit" - and Mayor Wetherington takes credit for starting all of them.

The Columbus Police Crime Prevention Division has its own phone number. Its programs range from the Neighborhood Watch program to the D.A.R.E. campaign against drug abuse. There's even one which was new to me - "Seniors and Lawmen Together," or SALT. A sure combination for increasing a criminal's blood pressure....

The new Crime Prevention Commission obviously is looking for other ideas. Frank Myers says its first meeting will be Friday, and all meetings will be open to the public. Anyone who shows up and tells the commissioners to get police off his back probably still will be subject to arrest.

The Crime Prevention Commission has members from a wide range of fields. There's Mike Gaymon from the Columbus Chamber of Commerce. There's Cathy Williams from the Muscogee County School Board. And there's former high school football coach Wallace Davis - who apparently will remind everyone that neighborhood busts are NOT a perfect form of prevention.

There's only one familiar name of a minister on the Crime Prevention Commission. That's a bit surprising, because a group of ministers withheld support of last year's one-percent sales tax until Mayor Wetherington promised to create the commission. But then again, maybe the ministers were confessing their all-night prayer meetings weren't quite working.

Perhaps we share the blame, because this blog has been lax in offering regular crime prevention tips. So let's offer one, directly from Wednesday's news -- check under your sofa regularly. If a Marshall Middle School teacher had done that, she might have found the $5,000 her accused cocaine-dealing boyfriend hid there.

But back to that surprising F.B.I. report: it's based on information from police departments nationwide, and it showed a large 29-percent drop in robbery in Columbus in early 2008. But burglary was up 20 percent in that time - so criminals simply had a better sense of timing.

Property crime in Columbus was up a modest three percent in the first half of 2008. But for some reason, the number of arsons nearly tripled -- and the next couple of days are supposed to be even colder than last winter.

The saddest statistic in the F.B.I. report is that the murder count jumped 60 percent in the first half of 2008, from 10 to 16. We compared Columbus with other cities, and our homicide count was double that of Honolulu - a city with four times as many residents. It's nice to see that "Hawaii Five-O" unit still going strong, after all these years.

BLOG UPDATE: Tuesday's Ledger-Enquirer reported the Muscogee County School Board is asking for an exemption from state-ordered budget cuts. So to answer a Tuesday e-mail question, there's a step toward accommodating base realignment. It's a bailout from Atlanta, but without any real buckets.

-> Our other blog starts with poker, and goes in surprising directions from there. See what we mean at "On the Flop!" <--

OVERHEARD OVER HERE: A man walked into the Columbus office, heard a few women talking, then made his big declaration.

"I just want to say I've never watched American Idol. I don't care about American Idol. And I want nothing to do with American Idol."

It was left to another man in the office to explain.

"They're talking about Ms. _____'s upcoming wedding."

"Well, I just wanted to get my two cents in."

Now let's see if other Tuesday news items were more valuable than that....

+ Peachtree Mall General Manager Chris McCoy told WXTX "News at Ten" the mall is 95-percent occupied, even though Eddie Bauer and the Hallmark store are about to close. Really?! I'd feel a lot more sure about that if the old Parisian store reopened, even as a dance studio.

(Chris McCoy said a couple of new stores will open at Peachtree Mall this spring. He wouldn't name names, but your blog has learned one of them will offer the "Hollywood Smiles" teeth whitening system. It likely will be placed strategically close to LensCrafters, to improve sales of sunglasses.)

+ Callaway Gardens announced it's offering free admission through February 28. At long last, an old Broadway play comes true -- butterflies are free.

+ Phenix City resident Kimberly Peavy claimed a $2.5 million Georgia Lottery prize. The Ledger-Enquirer reports she won all that money while playing her very first scratch-off game. I suggest Peavy invest a little of her jackpot in a private phone number - because jealous lottery players might want to take it out on her.

+ Various reports indicated Atlanta's baseball team will sign free agent pitcher Derek Lowe. Hey, I remember him - the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher who cheated on his wife with a Fox Sports Net hottie a few years ago. Maybe Lowe's moving to Atlanta to become a co-star on cable TV's "Real Housewives."

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