The 2014 Year End Crime Report documents the continued decrease in the crime rate in Piedmont from 2013, which is welcome news.  With this decline in crime there has also been a drop-off in neighborhood watch meetings, 55% from 2013.  I think it would help the neighborhood watch participation rate if crime statistics were reported by crime district, as designated on the Map of Major Offenses on page 5 of the report.  There are six districts 10001 – 10006 and I have attached the crime report maps for Q3 and Q4 of 2014.  The map is cumulative so the Q4 map shows all crime for 2014 and when compared with the Q3 map one can “eyeball” the districts in Piedmont where crime has increased the most over the past quarter, but not easily (see http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/html/govern/staffreports/2014-10-20/crimereport.pdf).   I tabulated burglaries the best I could by counting off the map and came up with these district numbers:

Districts	Burglary – Q3	Burglary – Q4	Increase in Burglary
10001	12	15	3
10002	2	10	8
10003	17	16	-1
10004	3	8	5
10005	8	16	8
10006	2	9	7

I think the tabulated numbers are easier to convey where the increase in Q4 crime occurred in Piedmont and could be used to encourage neighborhoods to form watch groups. Chief Goede indicated that such crime data are being developed so I encourage you to provide her any support she requests to accomplish this.

Garrett Keating, Former City Councilmember and current member of Public Safety Committee

Editors’ Note: The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association.

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