Derby Police Chief Gerald Narowski is taking issue with a statement in a campaign flier that says the city “is one of Connecticut’s 10-worst cities for violent crime.”
The mailing was sent out by Dan Foley’s campaign. Foley is running as a Democrat for mayor against incumbent Anthony Staffieri.
The statement in Foley’s flier references data that is seven years old, Narowski said Thursday.
This is the flier. Article continues below.
The chief said it is not his place to get involved in local politics, but residents who read the flier are asking him questions about the crime rate.
Narowski sent a letter to the Derby Board of Aldermen Thursday clarifying the statistics.
Derby had an abnormally high crime reporting rate in 2004, the chief said. It is unclear why.
In his letter to the Board of Aldermen, Narowski said the Department of Public Safety’s Crime Statistics Analysis Unit told him 2004 is not a good sample by which to measure Derby crime trends.
Click here for a Department of Public Safety website that tracks crime in Connecticut.
Narowski said Derby’s violent crime rate in 2009 was 51 percent lower than the national average — and 29.7 percent lower than the Connecticut average.
“In a quick comparison of violent crime rates of communities in Connecticut in 2009 (the most current data available for comparison) Derby was not even close to the top 10 highest crime rates,” Narowski said.
Foley said the data in his flier is from the most recent research of the state’s Office of Legislative Research. The report was published in 2008, but cites 2004 statistics.
Click here to read the report, which said Derby had the tenth-highest crime rate in the state in 2004.
Another legislative report published in 2008 looks at quality of life indicators in Derby. Click here to read that report.
Narowski pointed out that the Office of Legislative Research doesn’t track crime trends in the state — it researches answers to questions asked by state lawmakers.
The Department of Public Safety’s Crime Statistics Analysis Unit tracks crime stats and maintains a voluminous website with more recent information.
Foley stood by his flier’s statement Thursday. He said he shared the information with the chief before the mailing was sent.
“He didn’t have any reservations about it,” Foley said.
The chief said he and Foley talked about Foley’s ideas for the police department — but Narowski said he never saw the sentence printed in Foley’s literature before it was mailed. The two never discussed violent crime statistics, the chief said.
This is not the first time Narowski has responded to crime statistics quoted by Foley’s campaign. Narowski addressed the Board of Aldermen about the same issue in late July.
Click here for a story we wrote in February on Derby crime stats.
Staffieri, who has been in office since 2006, said the candidate needs better researchers.
“It seems as if he is trying to frighten the citizens of Derby using scare tactics. Scare tactics using very old statistics to make his point. The people of Derby deserve greater integrity and honesty,” Staffieri said.
Foley said his intent is not to argue with the police chief, but simply point out what residents are telling him as he goes door-to-door campaigning — crime is a major quality of life issue in Derby, especially on the city’s west side.
In the last few years, Derby’s violent crimes have been centered around lower Hawthorne Avenue and Hawkins Street in the area of Sixth Street.
Residents in the area are concerned the quality of life and the crime rate are expanding out of the “HALO” district and into the surrounding neighborhoods.
“We can argue statistics all we want, but the point is that there are a number of people that are very upset about the crime in the City of Derby,” Foley said. “I’m not criticizing the chief or the department. I want to know how I can support them.”
