Police Chief Matthew Clancy responds: Start a crime watch group
Police Chief Matthew Clancy responds
While I disagree with Alton Aimar’s recollection of our meeting and the facts shared with him, I do applaud his interest in maintaining Beaufort’s tranquility. Having been a victim of property crimes myself in the past, I can empathize with the sting that he feels from having his car broken into.
My responsibility is to use the available police resources to provide services to the entire city. One of the tools used to do that is crime mapping, which uses records of how many calls for service come in from each area, what type they are and what time of day they come in. The numbers I shared with Mr. Aimar were for the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park and marina side of Bay Street.
For period we discussed with him, he numbers were in the high 300s. Of those, only 28 weren’t “officer originated,” meaning someone else called the police. The rest resulted from extra patrols or officers taking action on something they observed. The point I was trying to make was that this area is very highly patrolled by the Beaufort Police Department.
Unfortunately, Beaufort is not immune to crime and we do have our share. When we notice a trend or something that we feel the public can help with or is a public safety issue, we distribute a press release. As the Beaufort Tribune knows, a record of our reports is available for them and any other media outlet or the public during working hours, per the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.
I suggested to Mr. Aimar that he start a crime watch group in his area, which in other neighborhoods has proven very effective in deterring crime and improving the reporting of incidents. To date, I haven’t heard back from him on this suggestion.
When crimes occur, we investigate to the fullest based on the available evidence and circumstances. Our successful case closure rate is above the national average as pointed out by our recent ICMA review. We don’t solve every case in an hour and ride off into the sunset like on television, but we do our best.
My officers are available for any business or group that would like to schedule a crime prevention presentation and we also offer periodic Rape Aggression Defense classes for women.
Public safety is our highest priority, and the Beaufort Police Department works tirelessly to protect the residents and property in the City. We welcome continued help from residents such as Mr. Aimar.
Chief Matthew Clancy
City of Beaufort Police Department
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