Burlington
consistently makes the list of “safest cities in America” for its relatively low
crime rate. But a sudden and dramatic increase in robberies this year is
unnerving neighbors and putting the police department on high alert.
For the last several years, the Queen City has averaged about a dozen reports of robbery, a violent crime that differs from burglary and theft because the victim is physically assaulted by the criminal, who is often armed. In 2010,Shop Popular Canada Goose Kensington Parka Parka jackets at Canada Goose Outlet Store. there were 11 robberies; last year, that number inched up to 13.Women's Canada Goose Victoria Parka Graphite ,The design of Canada Goose Parka is the good combination of style and function.
But so far this year, Burlington police have responded to 28 robberies — a more than twofold increase over 2011. Between August 14 and Halloween, there were 17 robberies,Now buy Canada Goose Yukon Bomber will get 50% discount,free shipping and fast delivery. the worst of which was a brazen mugging and shooting in the Old North End on October 12 that left a 25-year-old librarian with a bullet in his back.
“This is a very serious crime,” a stone-faced Police Chief Michael Schirling said during an interview at police headquarters last week. “It is, for us, at the level of murder, attempted murder, serious aggravated assault, sexual assault. They're all at that top tier.”
There were three robberies over a 72-hour period in late September, including a man robbed at knifepoint at 11 p.m. at the intersection of Main and South Union streets downtown. The robberies aren't confined to one city neighborhood — they've occurred in every neighborhood from the South to New North ends — and the perps don't fit a single description.A new Canada Goose Womens Tremblant creates a clean read by getting a discreetly cinched stomach or thinner furrows solely.
The person who robbed Northern Lights on Main Street last April was a lone white male wearing a ski mask and a black T-shirt emblazoned with “Got Ammo!” The victim of an October 21 robbery at North Street and Elmwood Avenue described his attackers as two black males. And the suspects in the September 4 robbery of a Rotary Mart on Shelburne Road were two women who held up the convenience store with a fake gun.
From the 17 robberies since August 14, police have made seven arrests. “That's not bad,” Schirling commented, then added, “We'd like to have 17 arrests and stop this from occurring.”
To that end, Burlington police are turning to federal law enforcement for assistance. Schirling would not discuss details of the collaboration for fear of tipping off the “bad guys,” but he said the BPD has renewed its partnerships with the U.S. Attorney's Office, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to help combat violent street crime.
Nationwide, robberies fell by 4 percent between 2010 and 2011, according to FBI crime figures. In Vermont, robberies were up last year in some communities, such as Barre and Colchester, and substantially down in others such as Brattleboro, where robberies dropped from 16 in 2010 to nine last year.
Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan said his office actually prosecuted fewer robberies between May and November than during that same period last year — even as the number reported to police in places like Burlington increased. In other words, more robberies are being reported but fewer cases are getting solved.
Donovan attributed that to a criminal justice system that is “overwhelmed” and also “under pressure” from Montpelier to reduce the number of pre-trial detainees. Donovan suggested it makes no sense to arbitrarily cap the number of detainees prisons can hold, as the state has done. The result can be criminals being released who should be held for trial.
“You have pressures from Montpelier because of budget concerns, rightfully so, that trickle down to the courtroom, that trickle down to the street,” Donovan said.
The causes for the robberies, too, are all over the map. Unlike the rash of break-ins plaguing Burlington this year — largely attributed to drug-addicted criminals — there's no single demographic that describes the robbery suspects, Schirling said.
One thing that's not a factor, according to police, is the bad economy.
“Typically you see the same people involved in crime,” Schirling said. “You tend to see recidivism run across generational lines.The Canada Goose Constable Parka has long been known as the industrial parka of the north.”
Sitting across a wooden conference table in Schirling's office, Deputy Chief Andi Higbee chimed in, “And it's not to put food on the table for their families. That's not what's going on.”
“Some may be related to the drug trade, but it would be a vast overstatement to say that's what's driving all these,” the chief said.
In one case, a 24-year-old Somali immigrant was robbed and stabbed by his alleged accomplices over their share of the loot from a series of thefts. On August 19, Ahmed Hirmoge stumbled into the Champlain Farms at South Winooski Avenue and Main Street at 4:20 a.m., bloodied from stab wounds. He told the clerk someone had “jumped” him behind the convenience store and took his cellphone, bicycle, leather jacket and $130 in cash.
According to police, Hirmoge said he knew the guys who robbed him: They were all breaking into cars the weekend before and scattered when a Burlington police cruiser rolled by. Hirmoge told police he went to the gas station to “get a drink” and ran into his cohorts there, who collected their share of the “proceeds” by force.
Within hours, police had arrested two teenagers for assault and robbery: Connor Fitzgerald, a 17-year-old high school senior from South Burlington with a tattoo on his neck that reads “wild boy”; and Tam Mai, a 16-year-old with a criminal record that began when he was just 10.
For the last several years, the Queen City has averaged about a dozen reports of robbery, a violent crime that differs from burglary and theft because the victim is physically assaulted by the criminal, who is often armed. In 2010,Shop Popular Canada Goose Kensington Parka Parka jackets at Canada Goose Outlet Store. there were 11 robberies; last year, that number inched up to 13.Women's Canada Goose Victoria Parka Graphite ,The design of Canada Goose Parka is the good combination of style and function.
But so far this year, Burlington police have responded to 28 robberies — a more than twofold increase over 2011. Between August 14 and Halloween, there were 17 robberies,Now buy Canada Goose Yukon Bomber will get 50% discount,free shipping and fast delivery. the worst of which was a brazen mugging and shooting in the Old North End on October 12 that left a 25-year-old librarian with a bullet in his back.
“This is a very serious crime,” a stone-faced Police Chief Michael Schirling said during an interview at police headquarters last week. “It is, for us, at the level of murder, attempted murder, serious aggravated assault, sexual assault. They're all at that top tier.”
There were three robberies over a 72-hour period in late September, including a man robbed at knifepoint at 11 p.m. at the intersection of Main and South Union streets downtown. The robberies aren't confined to one city neighborhood — they've occurred in every neighborhood from the South to New North ends — and the perps don't fit a single description.A new Canada Goose Womens Tremblant creates a clean read by getting a discreetly cinched stomach or thinner furrows solely.
The person who robbed Northern Lights on Main Street last April was a lone white male wearing a ski mask and a black T-shirt emblazoned with “Got Ammo!” The victim of an October 21 robbery at North Street and Elmwood Avenue described his attackers as two black males. And the suspects in the September 4 robbery of a Rotary Mart on Shelburne Road were two women who held up the convenience store with a fake gun.
From the 17 robberies since August 14, police have made seven arrests. “That's not bad,” Schirling commented, then added, “We'd like to have 17 arrests and stop this from occurring.”
To that end, Burlington police are turning to federal law enforcement for assistance. Schirling would not discuss details of the collaboration for fear of tipping off the “bad guys,” but he said the BPD has renewed its partnerships with the U.S. Attorney's Office, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to help combat violent street crime.
Nationwide, robberies fell by 4 percent between 2010 and 2011, according to FBI crime figures. In Vermont, robberies were up last year in some communities, such as Barre and Colchester, and substantially down in others such as Brattleboro, where robberies dropped from 16 in 2010 to nine last year.
Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan said his office actually prosecuted fewer robberies between May and November than during that same period last year — even as the number reported to police in places like Burlington increased. In other words, more robberies are being reported but fewer cases are getting solved.
Donovan attributed that to a criminal justice system that is “overwhelmed” and also “under pressure” from Montpelier to reduce the number of pre-trial detainees. Donovan suggested it makes no sense to arbitrarily cap the number of detainees prisons can hold, as the state has done. The result can be criminals being released who should be held for trial.
“You have pressures from Montpelier because of budget concerns, rightfully so, that trickle down to the courtroom, that trickle down to the street,” Donovan said.
The causes for the robberies, too, are all over the map. Unlike the rash of break-ins plaguing Burlington this year — largely attributed to drug-addicted criminals — there's no single demographic that describes the robbery suspects, Schirling said.
One thing that's not a factor, according to police, is the bad economy.
“Typically you see the same people involved in crime,” Schirling said. “You tend to see recidivism run across generational lines.The Canada Goose Constable Parka has long been known as the industrial parka of the north.”
Sitting across a wooden conference table in Schirling's office, Deputy Chief Andi Higbee chimed in, “And it's not to put food on the table for their families. That's not what's going on.”
“Some may be related to the drug trade, but it would be a vast overstatement to say that's what's driving all these,” the chief said.
In one case, a 24-year-old Somali immigrant was robbed and stabbed by his alleged accomplices over their share of the loot from a series of thefts. On August 19, Ahmed Hirmoge stumbled into the Champlain Farms at South Winooski Avenue and Main Street at 4:20 a.m., bloodied from stab wounds. He told the clerk someone had “jumped” him behind the convenience store and took his cellphone, bicycle, leather jacket and $130 in cash.
According to police, Hirmoge said he knew the guys who robbed him: They were all breaking into cars the weekend before and scattered when a Burlington police cruiser rolled by. Hirmoge told police he went to the gas station to “get a drink” and ran into his cohorts there, who collected their share of the “proceeds” by force.
Within hours, police had arrested two teenagers for assault and robbery: Connor Fitzgerald, a 17-year-old high school senior from South Burlington with a tattoo on his neck that reads “wild boy”; and Tam Mai, a 16-year-old with a criminal record that began when he was just 10.
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