Malloy says crime has decreased in Connecticut

Reported crimes in Connecticut are at their lowest level since 1967.

That’s what Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said is contained in a report released by the state’s criminal justice policy and planning officer and underscored by FBI data.

“Over the last several years, Connecticut has had a dramatic reduction in violent crime, and projections are showing that this trend will continue,” Malloy said. “Recently enacted criminal justice reforms, which were supported by experts from both sides of the aisle, are showing real results.”

The statistics available from the FBI do not break the data down by city or town. Links from Malloy’s news release refer to 2017 data as the most current available for most crimes except murder.

Malloy said other states “are looking to Connecticut as an example of smart policy reforms that are having a positive impact. We have to remember that this data represents real change in our communities — our policies are making our neighborhoods safer while at the same time providing young people who may otherwise get trapped into a cycle of crime the ability to lead successful lives.”

But state Sen. Leonard Suzio, R-Meriden, said Malloy’s announcement apparently isn’t focused on the state’s early release program, which began in 2011.

“What they’ll find is it’s been a catastrophic failure,” Suzio said. “There have been over 14,000 serious violent crimes that have been committed by individuals who have been discharged from prison early. I’m talking murder, homicide, rape, kidnapping, all kinds of serious assaults.”

Suzio said he has been compiling information for some time and will be releasing his report later this week.

“It shows that every single one of these crimes has been committed by a person who has not been reformed. The prisons are springing out populations by the boatload,” he said.

The crime that hits closest to home is the June 27, 2012, murder of Irahim Ghazal, who three weeks earlier opened a gas station and convenience store on Meriden’s East Main Street.

“It’s just blocks from my home,” Suzio said.

Two months earlier, Frankie “The Razor” Resto had received early release on a 20-year sentence for two armed robberies. Store surveillance shows Resto entered the store around 1:30 a.m. that day, displaying a gun and demanding money from the 70-yearold Ghazal.

After Ghazal turned the money over, Resto shot him. The hollow point bullet tore through the 70year-old store owner’s chest, immediately killing him.

Resto is now serving 53 years in prison for murder.

The announcement on the drop in crime comes at a time when Malloy is being battered by low public approval ratings and by gubernatorial candidates claiming the state’s economy is in dire straits resulting in residents and milennials moving elsewhere.

Malloy said the data show the state’s police departments reported 71,883 crimes last year, a 2 percent drop from the previous year. Since 2011, reported crimes have declined 19 percent, which includes a 19 percent drop in violent crimes, the governor said.

The total number of statewide arrests for all crimes dropped by 41 percent between 2009, when statewide arrests peaked at 138,719, and 2017, when there were 81,408 arrests — a drop of 7.5 percent from 2016. By analyzing recent trends, the criminal justice policy and planning office is projecting that there will likely be about six percent fewer arrests in 2018 than there were in 2017.

Malloy said the state reimagined its criminal justice system with a focus on second chances, rather than permanent punishment and stigma during his tenure.

In doing so, the state modernized criminal drug laws, reformed the bail system by focusing less on a person’s affluence, raised the age of juvenile jurisdiction, enhanced the state’s criminal justice data system, provided more support to school districts to encourage students to stay away from criminal situations and implemented policies that providing incarcerated individuals with the tools necessary to end a cycle of crime.

“Gov. Malloy’s comprehensive criminal justice reforms have yielded measurable and sustained improvements in public safety over the past eight years,” Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Dora Schriro said.

“The collaboration of the state with its local and federal partners is integral to Connecticut’s success. All of the men and women who make up the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection are proud to have had a significant role in these efforts and the realization of its favorable outcomes,” Schriro said.

As crime in the state has dropped, so has the prison population, Malloy said. Since January 2011, the prison population has dropped by 4,097 inmates — a 23 percent decrease. At the same time, the state’s Risk Reduction Earned Credit system is ensuring that high-risk prisoners are serving a greater portion of their original sentence in prison than they previously had been serving.

If current trends continue over the next few years, Connecticut is poised to become the first state in the nation to cut its prison and jail population in half, the governor said.