"Violent crime up, cops down in Queen City"

According to a study from the UB Regional Institute, violent crime is high in Buffalo, and police officer levels are low.

The recent policy brief, "Violent Crime in the City of Good Neighbors," described the Institute's finding - that Buffalo is one of the only cities found to have both a higher violent crime rate and fewer police officers than the group average.

The brief analyzed major and mid-sized cities in the Northeast and Midwest, and found that the violent crime rate in many mid-sized cities like Buffalo has been rising since 2000.

"Violent crime is above average for the group of cities we analyzed, and the cop levels are a little below average," said Kathryn A. Foster, the institute's director.

This problem is compounded by Buffalo's small police force. In 2005, Buffalo had 281 officers per 100,000 residents, a 12.7 percent decline since 2000. Other nearby cities such as Rochester, Syracuse and Albany have increased officer levels and improved their ranking since the 2000 study.

Exact causes for the increase in crime are uncertain, but could range from economic conditions to the demand for drugs in Buffalo.

"One of the hardest parts of developing strategies to prevent crime is the difficulty in zeroing in on the exact causes," said Peter A. Lombardi, the institute's policy analyst. "Just as crime rates were starting to increase in cities across the country a few years ago, researchers were still trying to explain the significant decline in urban crime during the 1990s."

According to Foster, the reason for increased crime may come down to demographics.

"The cause could be as straightforward as what is the number of males ages 15 to 30 because that's who commits the most crime," she said. "If you have a demographic bubble, we would expect violent crime to increase."

Foster believes that recent fiscal cuts in the budget lead to reduction in the police force and have increased violent crime.

Buffalo leaders are implementing a variety of strategies to alleviate the city's crime situation, including a request for $10 million from the state to assist with hiring new officers.

"It must be emphasized that adding officers may not necessarily have an impact on the violent crime rate in the city, but our analysis suggests that the levels tend to reflect the crime rate - not the other way around," Lombardi said. "For example, Detroit has far more officers per capita than Buffalo, but its violent crime rate is also 40 percent higher."

Large cities like Chicago and New York have kept crime down, but still have relatively high officer levels per 100,000 residents. This suggests inefficiency, with too much money being put into police when the crime rate is low, Foster said.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown is also seeking to add surveillance cameras in key areas and to continue the efforts of a special police unit that focuses specifically on gangs and drug-related crimes. Details on Governor Spitzer's statewide plans have yet to be released.

"Right-sizing the police force is really more about the operational efficiency of the police department than a direct means of lowering crime," Lombardi said.