Crime in Ladue Down by 2.2 Percent Overall

There’s pretty good news with Ladue’s annual crime report.

Going inside the numbers, Chief Rich Wooten told the Ladue City Council that overall, crime had been reduced 2.2 percent during the 2012 calendar year.

The good news is, Ladue police have cleared about 70 percent of the cases on their docket, but have recovered only about 7 percent of items stolen from homes and businesses.

These days, many stolen items are sold on the internet through sources such as Craigslist. Be sure, Ladue police are scanning those offers daily.

Stealing from unlocked vehicles remains Ladue’s No. 1 annual crime. That accounts for about 80 percent of what goes reported.

Chief Wooten has worked tirelessly to get citizens to lock up their unattended vehicles. Often, laptops, I-pads, wallets and cell phones are pilfered from unlocked vehicles.

The chief noted, that with warmer weather approaching, crime in the residential areas will likely increase. “During the colder months, most of what is stolen is taken from our retail businesses,” he said.

Most moving violations are issued for drivers who follow too close, or from general inattention.

Chief Wooten told the council the most important issue taking up the department’s time these days is working with nearby schools on crisis planning.

“In 2006, we formed an active shooters committee.”

In years gone by, police would call in the SWAT team to deal with active shooters. Now,the local police are first responders who must take swift action just the case of the Newtown, CT Sandy Hook school tragedy.

In Newtown, reports found that all the shooting happened there in  the span of just five minutes of the gunman gaining forced entry into the school.

The city council approved $21,000 in budgeted funds to purchase additional safety gear for each officer, including heavy-duty helmets, vests and weapons with multiple rounds of ammunition for their weapons.