Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 14, 1993 TAG: 9306140295
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Although most area departments limit telephone reporting to minor offenses, a growing number are taking phone reports of some felonies, including auto theft. Some want to expand it to even more crimes.
Facing tighter budgets and increasing demands for services from the public, police say they are trying to make better use of their resources. Reducing the number of visits to crime scenes frees officers to respond more quickly to more serious incidents and devote more time to crime prevention, they say.
"The county has limited resources," said Maj. Nelson Ryan of the Prince William County Police Department. "What we're trying to do is say, `How can we free up the officers?' "
Some officials are concerned that police departments will carry the idea too far.
"It's a very mixed bag in the sense that the public really wants to see those blue suits," said Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Horan Jr. "That's a confidence builder, particularly when something shattering has happened to you. In the long run, it's not going to be good for police departments. I'm concerned with how far you want to do it."
The change to more telephone reporting of crimes is happening in most cities, analysts say.
"It's an increasing trend in law enforcement," said Hubert Williams, president of the Police Foundation, a nonprofit organization that studies police issues. "Police are trying to get more efficient. They want to have the cars available to deal with the serious problems."
Alexandria started its telephone unit in May 1989, and the number of crime reports taken by phone increased to a peak of 42 percent of all calls in April, said Shirley Joyner, records manager for the police department.
Fairfax County has taken some crime reports by phone since the 1970s, but recently installed a permanent staff to take calls seven days a week, 14 hours a day. The department has taken a maximum of 4 percent of its reports by phone in the past, but has set a goal of 10 percent.
Unlike some jurisdictions, Fairfax County has limited its phone reports to minor offenses, including larcenies of less than $5,000, suspicious noises and destruction of property.
In Prince William County, telephone operators average 500 cases a month - about 25 percent of all reports - but the goal is to take even more by phone, Ryan said.
All Northern Virginia police departments still send officers if the crime just occurred or if there is a known suspect, evidence to collect or an injury.
When crime victims call police, it's likely that the person they get on the phone is not an officer. Some police departments, including those in Prince William County, primarily staff their telephone reporting units with civilians. The Fairfax County department is considering it.
When Kathleen Finn's car was stolen from a Prince William parking lot and later found stripped and torched, she said, her friends asked, "Did the police come to your house?" The answer was no.
"I was surprised, too," said Finn, 38, who made her police report over the phone. "But I understand police are busy and that's not really a major thing. Everything's being done by phone and computers these days."
Police say telephone operators offer some advantages over patrol officers. Rather than waiting hours for an officer to come by to take a report, people can get calls at work from the telephone operators. The operators also say they can broadcast information about a stolen vehicle faster than an officer, who might be interrupted by another call.
by CNB