At the end of every Comprehensive Annual Financial Report there are these lists of “Operating Indicators by Function/Program that are fairly informative, but are in table format. So I drew out a few items that I thought would be interesting in graph format, since I was digging around in the CAFR anyway.
So here are some graphs detailing some of the public safety items from 2000 – 2009.
This graph is for Police Calls for Service, 2007 spikes down because there is no data for that year.
This graph is for Fire Calls for service, not as informative has the last graph because of the lack of data from 2005 – 2008, but fire calls for service are considerably lower than in 2000.
This one is a bit disappointing. The number of Shelter Animals adopted at the Alameda Animal Shelter has dropped rather steadily. Of course, the data doesn’t indicate whether this is because Alameda Animal Shelter has less adoptable animals or whether folks simply aren’t adopting.
And this one, I thought folks would enjoy given Alameda’s reputation for being notorious about enforcing traffic violations. Evidently Alameda Police have been a little less vigilant, not more on 2007 and 2008. So even though it may seem as though someone is getting pulled over for a traffic stop at every corner, traffic violations have dropped substantially.
Four to six thousand yearly calls for fire service!
One would think the Iceland volcano erupts weekly here in river city. Too bad the Fire Calls for Service graph can’t be rebranded to reflect what probably are 90%+ of the reasons for the calls, which have nothing to do with “fire”.
Comment by Jack Richard — April 27, 2010 @ 8:44 am
Interesting … how does a dept fail to keep track of data?
Comment by alameda — April 27, 2010 @ 10:02 am
The change in traffic enforcement came about under the new chief. I have seen an increase in reckless driving, red light running and speeding in recent years. I thought that Burney was a better match for Alameda.
Comment by AlamedaNayTiff — April 27, 2010 @ 12:23 pm
I’m glad that traffic violations have decreased. I wish they would go down even further.
Comment by E — April 27, 2010 @ 2:19 pm
The decrease in traffic enforcement explains a lot. Between the speeding, light-running reckless drivers and the old farts who can’t see or turn their heads enough to drive safely, it has become much less safe around here for both pedestrians and other drivers.
Comment by Jill — April 27, 2010 @ 6:17 pm
My wife got off the bus the other day and then began to cross street in the crosswalk. A woman in an SUV went around the bus — illegally — and yelled at my wife that she “should be more careful”… as she sped through the crosswalk. Amazing.
Comment by Jack B. — April 27, 2010 @ 6:36 pm
I thought red light running was legal now. I’m always surprised when people actually stop for the red light. My policy is to wait for about 3 seconds after the light turns green and then go. That way you get to see the intersection clear out.
Comment by John Piziali — April 28, 2010 @ 9:15 am
#7: One thousand, two thousand, three thousand…
unfortunately at .025 sec the guy behind you begins with holding down the horn button.
If a pair of motor officers were posted on Fernside – anywhere from Encinal to Tilden and wrote traffic tickets in the morning and afternoon commute; there wouldn’t be a need for a parcel tax.
Comment by Basel — April 28, 2010 @ 10:20 pm
Speeding has gotten worse, at least in my opinion. While I’m not perfect, I generally adhere to the 25MPH limit. Over the last year or two, I getting tailgated, honked at and angrily passed with greater frequency when I’m driving exactly the speed limit.
Comment by dave — April 29, 2010 @ 6:08 am
I *have been* getting tailgated, etc
Comment by dave — April 29, 2010 @ 6:08 am