By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com
Related coverage:
* Sept. 10 — Officials: 15 percent drop in violent crime
* Sept. 15 — Frye: We have a crime problem
A representative for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina in Greensboro acknowledged early Tuesday that a reference to a 15 percent drop in violent crime in Richmond County was made in error.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Richmond County Sheriff James Clemmons Jr.
“The 15 percent figure was based on the 2012 Uniform Crime Report statistics and was inadvertently included in the 2014 press release,” Randy Tysinger, of the office’s media relations, told The Pee Dee Post in an email. “We are looking into the 2013 Uniform Crime Report statistics for Richmond County and will reissue the press release with the updated violent crime statistics.”
The 15 percent drop in violent crime, then, appears to have referred to a comparison of data between 2011 and 2012. The Post requested access to the 2013 data as soon as it became available.
On Sept. 10, Clemmons held a news conference to release a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release that provides updates on more than a dozen convicted or suspected Richmond County criminals who had been charged with federal crimes.
Clemmons said the improved relationship between his office and local, state and federal agencies was the fulfillment of a campaign promise. He then cited the data mentioned in the news release, including the 15 percent drop in violent crime, as evidence “of the effective partnership between Richmond County law enforcement, the office of District Attorney Reece Saunders and our office (that) will continue to work hard to make our communities safer for all.”
On Monday during a meeting of the Richmond County Republican Party, party candidate Bo Frye dismissed that figure and called it “false.”
Frye said the most current data available is from 2012 and that “in those statistics, crime is still high in Richmond County.”
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Bo Frye, a Republican candidate for Richmond County sheriff.
He cited Sperling’s Best Places as one source that indicated Richmond County residents aren’t safe. On a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the worst place to live, Richmond County scored a 61, Frye said. The national average is 41.
Frye referred to another crime statistics and gangs report that is “scathing,” but available data is limited.
Discussion