Criminals run rampant on the streets of Lincoln

But they do so at their own peril. I have no doubt that these offenders will be in custody before too much more time passes.

Recent History
In the past 9 or 10 days local media outlets have reported a string on violent crimes in the Capitol City.

It started last Sunday morning with an armed home invasion that that I wrote about here. There was another reported home invasion reported the following morning (Monday). In both instances the perpetrators seemed interested in robbing the occupants of their firearms.

Sometime last night there was an other apparent home invasion, this one cumulating with the shooting death of the occupant. At the time of this writing all that is known of this latest tragic incident is reported here.

In addition to these home invasions there has been at least three armed robberies of fast food Mexican restaurants. Police chief Tom Casady told the Journal Star;

The way the suspects carried out the armed robbery at Amigos, 2063 S. 16th St., was similar to 10 to 15 other robberies, Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady said Monday. Investigators have found similarities in the cases, although they can’t say with certainty the same suspects pulled all of them.

Last December
All of these restaurant robberies are reminicent of the Taco Bell robbery/shooting that took place last December on North 27th street. The three perpetrators in that crime were caught when one of them was identified as a former employee. Yes it is rare for an armed robbery in Lincoln to end with a shooting as Chief Tom Casady stated at that time;

Of the 1,536 robberies — armed and unarmed — that occurred here between 1994 and 2003, only one person was shot, Casady said. That robbery occurred in April 1998 at the Gas ‘N Shop, 5560 S. 48th St. The robber shot the victim twice, but she survived.

I know the Chief has a lot on is mind and is maybe getting old, but surely he hasn't forgotten the tragedy that occurred at Acher Arms on January 28th, 2000. After all it was one of the crimes highlighted in the Departments annual report for that year. (link is to a pdf file)

Related Robberies
Of the 10-15 cases of armed robbery so far this year the Police Department thinks several are related as is reflected in the in the Crimes Stoppers report that has been issued;

The Lincoln Police Department is investigating an series of ARMED ROBBERIES (7) that have occurred at Restaurants in the City of Lincoln between May 8th and August 24th. Because of the method of the robberies and the similar descriptions of the suspects, it is believed they are related.

Having a working knowledge of how the Lincoln Police Department works, I am sure it will be only a matter of time before the miscreant youth identified for these crimes are brought before the Judge.

Many times I have expressed my differences with Chief Tom Casady, but there is one thing I will say;

Chief Casady genuinely cares about Lincoln and it's citizens and he knows how to get the job done.

Since becoming Chief Casady has kept the Lincoln Police Department on the cutting edge of crime solving techniques. Chief Casady has done more with less than most cities of comparable size or larger. So much so that he has repeatedly been invited to other U.S. cities and foriegn countries to speak on the methods that he has implimented here. In fact Chief Casady recently returned from a trip to London, England where he was invited to share his experiences. Several other cities, including foriegn cities have sent emmessaries to the Capitol City to study the way things are done here in order to build that knowledge in their home jurisdiction crime fighting abilities.

At Chief Casady's direction the Lincoln Police Department was one of the first departments in the country to develop computer programing to track criminal trends and patterns. The results of this foresight was most evident in the aprehension of a local bank robber that had committed a dozen or more bank robberies in the last several years.

It was no accident that the man was caught as he was about to commit another one. Based on data provided by the departments computer programming, Investigators were able to pin point almost to the hour when and where the suspect would strike again.

By entering all of the known data into the computer the police were able to determine that the dates of subsequant robberies were based on the amount taken from the previous bank robbery. The program also showed that the suspect had a penchant for banks that were away from high traffic areas. In essence the police had it narrowed down to about four banks they thought he would hit and a four day window in which he would commit the robbery. Within the first few hours of the very first morning of that window the suspect, not being one to dissappoint, appeared in the parking lot of one of the four banks and was apprehended after a brief foot chase.

In another case computer programming allowed officers to solve an ongoing series of indecent exposure crimes that most probably would not have been linked had it not been for the computer programming.

If one takes stock in statistics, the Lincoln Police Department, as compared to other cities of the same size, is definately under manned and under bugeted. This has not stopped the fine officers, led by Chief Casady, from amassing an enviable record of solving crime. They have done so by thinking and acting "outside of the box".

As long as there are bad people there will always be crime, that will never stop. Yes there have been a recent spate of violent crimes in Lincoln. Will there be more? Of course there will, be that is just the nature of some that have been unjustly labled as human beings instead of the vicious predators that they are.

The good citizens should know, however that their Police Department is internationaly recognized in criminal investigation and that Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady and the fine Officers under his command are working very hard to catch those responsible for this recent rash of violent crimes.