On several occasions we've received calls from people claiming they have a big crime problem in their neighborhood, but a check with police found only a small number of crimes on the books. Why the discrepancy? Because, some of the crimes were never reported to police. Some victims decide not to call police because the burglar that broke into their home didn't take anything or because they assume it would be unlikely the criminal who stole items from their car would be caught. Just to name a few reasons.
But if police never hear about all of the crime in your neighborhood, how can they know how bad the crime is in your neighborhood? A spokesperson with the St. Louis Police Department tells me that they review crime statistics regularly to determine the level of police patrols for areas of the city. That's standard operating procedure at most police departments in the area. So, it's important that you contact police if you're the victim of a crime. They might not be able to solve every crime, but your call might help prevent future crime by convincing police that the level of criminal activity in your neighborhood warrants more police resources.
