Scott County's crime shows signs of decline

Scott County's crime rate appears to be drifting downward.

The final numbers won't be out for some time yet, but the signs of a slowdown paralleling that of Dakota County are growing:

• The number of felony probation cases in 2009 was down markedly from 2008, and it stands hundreds of cases below the 2006 peak, according to statistics shared with the County Board this week.

• In Savage, calls for police service in 2009 took their first major year-to-year plunge since the early 1990s.

• In Jordan, reported crime inched up slightly from 2008 but remains hundreds of cases below the mid-decade peak.

It all sounds a lot like the recent announcement from Dakota County of two straight years of major drops in adult felony prosecutions after a steep climb in the early years of the decade and a mid-decade plateau.

Scott County's final crime stats aren't ready yet, said Sheriff Kevin Studnicka, but there's one good sign to report:

The trends could give elected officials political cover to take some cost-saving measures in public safety in what is shaping up as a brutal year for city and county finances.

Members of a law-and-order-minded Scott County Board offered no push-back earlier this week as they faced a row of community corrections department chiefs describing plans to try to save money by finding cheaper alternatives for offenders.

"We're teaming up with Carver County to explore options such as after-school programming" for juvenile offenders, said Keri Lorenz, a Community Corrections supervisor. "Out-of-home placement can cost anywhere from $150 to well over $200 a day, while after-school costs $90 a day. Keeping kids in the family home helps create success for them."

These same downward crime trends have taken place in a number of places, both in Minnesota and elsewhere. They have left officials somewhat mystified. Some have said that moves to make the ingredients for crystal meth less accessible have helped; others have speculated that a cratering economy has cut down on things such as bar fights as people saved money by staying home.

Overall, Scott County's rate of serious crime -- so-called Part 1 offenses, such as murder, assault and burglary -- peaked in 2006 at 2,718 per 100,000 people. It declined in 2007 to 2,524 and again in 2008 to 2,214. That compares to a 2008 statewide rate of 3,105, well below its 2005 peak of 3,410.