Crime in Montgomery; Perception vs. Reality
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Crime seems to be the hot topic among Montgomery mayoral candidates this election period. Some of them say crime is out of control in the city, others disagree.
So, what are the facts?
“The robberies are going in the right direction,” said Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley.”The burglaries are starting to go in the right direction and property crimes are starting to go in the right direction.”
Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley says crime has actually gone down overall the past three months. But he says he believes perception IS reality for most people.
“If you’re a victim of crime, you’re a victim.”
“The perception is that crime is increased, the reality is it has not,” said Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange.
Strange blames the media for skewed perception.
“Because the media is and the public is super sensitive to crimes and that always leads your stories.”
Strange also says outsiders are hurting Montgomery’s image.
“The Riverfront, that 14-year-old, he’s not from Montgomery, he’s from Selma. The lady that got robbed at Walmart, the person that robbed her is not from Montgomery, he’s from Pike County.”
Both men say there are issues that do need to be addressed, like car thefts. There were 16 just last week.
“The majority of those 16 car thefts, the keys were left in the car,” Finley said.
And Strange says he believes crime appears more out of control than it really is because it’s no longer relegated to just one area of town.
“You will see that 10-15 years ago, it was right over here but now it’s moving because frankly, crime goes where the affluence is.”
