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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – A new report shows that violent crime in the city continues to decline.
Joshua Clark from Chicopee told 22News, “I’ve never had a problem feeling safe in downtown Springfield. We come here frequently. I never have issues when I am here, so the statistics aren’t surprising.”
The Springfield Police Department releasing several statistics from 2021. One major finding: both violent and property crimes are continuing to trend downward last year by 2 percent. Those crimes including homicides, rapes, robberies, vehicle thefts, and felony assaults.
Springfield Police spokesperson Ryan Walsh saying its thanks to newer strategizes in policing.
“We’ve seen a real steady decline for the past ten years or so,” Walsh said. “Really we think its the proactive policing, the creation of specified units that go out there and our ordinance unit that ultimately helps bring crime down as well. A happy neighborhood makes them trust the police more.”
One of the strategies to help decrease crime in Springfield was creating the Firearms Investigation Units to address the uptick in gun violence in the city. According to the report, since the firearms unit’s creation back in July, the unit has seized 117 out of 55 total illegally possessed firearms found in the city.
In addition to these units, the police department also reports that they’ve expanded the number of Behavioral Health Network clinicians to co-respond with officers to mental heath calls, from four to 6 clinicians. Last year these clinicians were called nearly 2,000 times to help deescalate situations.
Also in the report was another significant milestone reached last year: the administration of the 250th life-saving dose of Narcan.
