Saugus crime rates on upswing

SAUGUS – Saugus Police Department’s annual crime statistics, released this month,appear to show that crime in town has slightly increased since 2006.Ninety-two domestic assault and batteries were reported in 2006 and 109 were reportedin 2007.Total drug violations rose from 110 incidents in 2006 to 119 in 2007.Rapes went up from four reported incidents in 2006 to seven incidents in 2007.Shoplifting went up from 268 incidents in 2006 to 274 in 2007.Credit card fraud went up from 29 in 2006 to 48 in 2007.However, the robbery category received the most significant change in the form of adecrease. Thirty-five robberies were reported in 2006 but only 16 were reported in 2007,marking a decrease of over 50 percent.Motor vehicle thefts also went down from 86 in 2006 to 74 in 2007.Executive Officer Lt. Michael Annese says the most serious problems Saugus deals withare drugs and shoplifting.”Shoplifting is always, always something that consumes a lot of our time,” Annese said.”That’s a constant.”Shoplifting is often a crime committed by drug addicts or criminals looking for a quickescape, making retail outlets along Route 1 an easy target, the officer says.”Our drug officers are going crazy,” Annese said. “When we look at the drugs and theother crimes of shoplifting, break-ins into cars and houses, it’s all drug related.”When asked if most of the drug-related crimes are committed by Saugus residents,Annese answered that most of the criminals are from out of town.”I think many years ago I would have told you, ‘Saugus residents,’ but we’re so centrallylocated that the majority are from out of town,” Annese said. “You can be in the innercity in Boston and be here in five or 10 minutes.”Annese says the department’s best approach at reducing crime is old fashioned, randompatrols.”It means visibility,” he said. “Officers never know what they’re deterring just by goingin and out of the parking lots.”Annese says that devastating budget shortfalls have left officers facing major concerns,such as a widely reported low police staffing level. Coordination with loss preventionofficers at Route 1 retail outlets, including a police substation under construction at theSquare One Mall, is another way police are trying to alleviate crime until the budgetproblem is solved.”It’s a working type thing with security and our guys,” he said.Mall security guards often have the ability to detain shoplifters until police arrive.However, Annese admits that a detained shoplifter can run away from security officers,who do not have the power to arrest.”Sometimes they’re not from the area and they’re going to jump on a bus or get into a carwaiting for them,” he said.Despite that, Annese says many of the suspects will obey rules and wait until policearrive. He says there are surveillance cameras and police often patrol the area.Detective John Daigle, who compiled the annual crime stats, says because the departmentis recording incidents with better accuracy, the number of reported crimes might go up onpaper in the coming years.”If you talk to the drug unit, they’ll tell you, that’s only half of what they do,” Daiglesaid.Daigle says that sometimes a dispatcher will record a call as a general disturbance, forexample, but a responding officer will realize it’s drug related. In the past, the incidentmight not have been recorded as a drug call and he says the department is being pro-active about how it records crime.