Associated Press
PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) - Cell phone users’ calls to police have boosted the number of reported crimes in Pascagoula during 2001, said Police Chief Mike Whitmore.
“As people have more access to communications - I am talking about wireless communications and cell phones - they are making more calls to police,” Whitmore said.
He said drivers with cell phones are following drunk drivers and burglars and reporting their location to police.
“Years ago, people did not have the opportunity to that,” Whitmore said.
The number of crimes reported to Pascagoula Police increased from 4,925 in 2000 to 5,582 in 2001. Total criminal cases reported have gone up and down over the past five years.
Whitmore said numbers of crimes reported are different from actual crimes. Some crimes go unreported.
In 2001, Whitmore said police recovered $888,104 in stolen property in 2001 compared to the $426,954 recovered in 1999 and $798,605 in 2000.
He said the major reported crime in Pascagoula in recent years is larceny. Police investigated 1,700 larceny cases in 2001. Only in 1999, did police investigate a higher number of larcenies, 1,766.
One reason for the increase in larceny cases is an increase in the number of cell phones stolen, Whitmore said.
Alcohol-related injury accidents continue on a downward trend, 39 in 1999, 20 in 2000 and 13 in 2001. Tickets for driving while intoxicated have decreased over the same time - 266 in 1999, 160 in 2000 and 151 in 2001, according to the city’s annual report.