Policy Brief Focuses on Violent Crime in Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Buffalo has fewer police officers per capita than many other cities in New York and nearby states, a condition reinforced by a 13 percent drop in officers per capita between 2000 and 2005, according to the most recently released Regional Institute Policy Brief, "Violent Crime in the City of Good Neighbors."

This is especially noteworthy given the city's relatively high violent-crime rate, which in 2005 exceeded that of Syracuse, Rochester and New York City.

According to the brief's comparison of officer and crime levels in Northeast and Midwest cities with 150,000 or more residents, Buffalo is one of only a few cities to have both a higher violent-crime rate and lower officer levels than the group average.

Regional Institute Director Kathryn A. Foster notes, however, that Buffalo's higher-than-average violent-crime rate is not necessarily the result of its lower-than-average officer levels.

"This analysis indicates that cities with violent-crime rates similar to Buffalo's tend to have more officers," she said, adding that officer levels often reflect a city's crime rate, not vice versa. "In the group of cities we examined, the tendency is low officer levels in cities with low violent-crime rates and high officer levels in cities with high violent-crime rates."

Buffalo is not an anomaly with regards to its shrinking officer levels. Between 2000 and 2005, many cities reduced their police forces to cope with limited resources. In Detroit, where the violent-crime rate is 70 percent higher than in Buffalo, police levels fell by almost 15 percent. However, other major cities in upstate New York added to their officer levels, including a five percent jump in Syracuse.

With respect to changes in violent-crime levels, Buffalo mirrors most major cities in the Midwest. After steady declines during the 1990s, violent-crime rates have risen gradually in mid-sized cities like Buffalo.

During the first five years of this decade, violent crime in Buffalo increased 11 percent, 11 percent in Cleveland, 7 percent in Detroit and Pittsburgh, and 6 percent in St. Louis. Very large cities like New York City and Chicago have been bucking this trend, with their violent-crime levels falling sharply through the 1990s and steadily through 2005.

"Crime is a very complex issue and experts have had a difficult time pinpointing the sources of recent declines and increases in violent crime," said Peter A. Lombardi, institute policy analyst and Policy Brief author, adding that demand for certain narcotics, unemployment levels and law enforcement tactics are among the many factors believed to influence violent-crime rates.

"Consequently, and appropriately, municipalities often pursue multi-pronged strategies to prevent and prosecute crime," Lombardi said.

This was apparent in Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown's 2007 State of the City Address, in which he proposed tactics ranging from a gun buyback program to increasing police presence citywide.

"Violent Crime in the City of Good Neighbors" is the institute's seventh brief since it initiated the Policy Brief series in August 2006 to inform regional issues with timely, reliable data and analysis. The series is available online at http://regional-institute.buffalo.edu.

A major research and public service unit of the University at Buffalo, the Regional Institute plays a vital role in addressing key policy and governance issues for regions, with focused analysis of the Buffalo-Niagara region. A unit of the UB Law School, the institute leverages the resources of the university and binational community to pursue a wide range of scholarship, projects and initiatives that frame issues, inform decisions and guide change.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York.