Crime in Omaha, Nebraska
Crime rates (2010) (Population of 464,628) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Crime type | Rate [1] | ||||
Homicide | 7.3 | ||||
Forcible rape | 41.8 | ||||
Robbery | 155.6 | ||||
Aggravated assault | 282.4 | ||||
Violent crime | 487.1 | ||||
Burglary | 655.6 | ||||
Larceny-theft | 2,602.3 | ||||
Motor vehicle theft | 472.9 | ||||
Property crime | 3,730.7 | ||||
^ Crime rates per 100,000 persons Source: FBI 2010 UCR data
|
Crime in Omaha, Nebraska has varied widely, ranging from
As a
Since the 1990s crime has been reduced for the city overall. According to crime statistics released by the
History
19th century
Omaha had an early history as a "wide-open town" where prostitution, gambling, drugs and alcohol were accepted.
In 1868, the city council created the position of "police judge" and appointed
Early years of
Because of the lack of police force, in early years groups sometimes resorted to lynchings, as elements of the community enforced their own rough justice. Victims were likely to be outsiders, transient workers or laborers who did not live in the city, whom no one knew. In the west and south, victims were lynched for alleged crimes of property as well as of violence. In 1891 there was the first recorded
At the start of the 20th century,
Notable 19th-century crimes in Omaha
There were several notable crimes in Omaha during its first 50 years. They included the murder of a federal clerk on November 4, 1881. After receiving several anonymous letters and postcards threatening his life because of his enforcement of the
On June 11, 1895, James Ish murdered a man named Chappele after finding him in an embrace and kissing his wife. After he initially corroborated his wife's story confessing she killed Chappele when he attempted to abduct her, Ish later recanted and admitted his own guilt, confident a jury would not find him guilty.[13] In another affair of the heart, on November 18, 1888, Eliza Beechler, the wife of Harry W. King, Jr., a merchant from Chicago, followed him to Omaha's Paxton Hotel where she suspected him of carrying on an affair. On her arrival he insisted she leave, and after escorting her to the hotel lobby she shot him several times, murdering him. It was later revealed that King had married three different women, including the one with whom he shared the room at the Paxton. The crime caused a sensation in Omaha, Chicago, where the King family was prominent at the time, and St. Louis, close to where the third wife was from.[14]
On November 5, 1895, three men were held in suspicion of their involvement in the abduction and murder of an eleven-year-old girl.[15] On April 14, 1899, Anton Inda, an Omaha policeman, was held for murder after an African American singer named J.A. Smith was murdered at the police station. Smith was killed when he was stabbed in the skull with a stilleto, and a witness was suspected to have been suppressed through intimidation.[16]
In 1900 the city and country closely followed the
Tom Dennison's political machine
Early in the 1890s
20th-century changes
On September 28, 1919, the Omaha Race Riot erupted, one of many race riots that occurred in cities that year, reflecting common postwar economic stress and social tensions. In Omaha, Tom Dennison fanned tensions through sensational news accounts to build his own political power. The immediate cause of the riot was the arrest of 41-year-old
A mob of white men, led by volatile adolescents, gathered at the
Historians attributed the
1920s and Prohibition
In 1926 Frank Carter was sentenced to be executed after he was found guilty of murdering two Omahans and terrorizing the city as the "Phantom Sniper" for more than two weeks.
During the 1920s and 30s,
Safety measures
In 1923, the police created a separate motor force unit. "Pill boxes" were installed throughout the city. Some pill boxes were still in service in 2005. Theories of policing have alternated between the use of vehicle units and more community-based patrols.
Also in 1923, the police department established the first
Current
In 2007, there was an increase in crime and gang-related shootings in Omaha.[citation needed] Compared to other major cities, it is still very safe.[citation needed]
The single event with the most fatalities in recent years was due to a lone gunman. On December 5, 2007, 19-year-old Robert A. Hawkins, who had a history of drug abuse and social problems,
Police killings
A South Omaha policeman named Edward Lowry apprehended a Greek man accused of having an illicit affair with a white woman on February 14, 1909. During the course of trying to apprehend the suspect, the officer was killed.[25] After the man was finally apprehended, a mob thronged around the South Omaha Jail where he was being held. The police decided it was not safe to keep him there and decided to move their prisoner to the Omaha jail. The mob followed the police wagon as it left the jail. More than once they got their hands on the prisoner. At one point they almost lynched him. Once the police wagon escaped their grasp, the mob turned back towards South Omaha. On February 21, a mob of more than 1,000 men stormed "Greek Town."[26] They looted homes and businesses, beat Greek men, women and children, and eventually burnt down every building in the area.[27] One Greek boy was reportedly killed.[28]
Omaha Police Officer
On August 21, 1995, 24-year-old Omaha Police Officer
On September 11, 2003, 30-year-old Omaha Police Officer
Detective Kerrie Orozco was shot and killed on May 20, 2015, while serving an arrest warrant on a suspect in North Omaha. The suspect was shot and killed by other officers in the incident.
There were 37 homicides in Omaha during 2011.[29]
Racial tension
Long the location of racial tension, Omaha re-emerged in headlines when a local grocery store was
Omaha's history of racial tension extends at least to 1891, when a large white mob lynched an African American named
In the first part of the 20th century, after a police office caught an older Greek man being intimate with an older teenage "American" girl in February 1904, the police officer attempted to take the Greek man into custody. During the apprehension, the Greek man shot and killed the police officer. News of the incident caused an anti-Greek mob to descend upon "Greek Town", an enclave of South Omaha. After beating, looting and rioting through the community the mob forced the entire population of hundreds of Greek immigrants to leave the city within one day. The Greek population of Omaha has never recovered, and currently stands at around 1000.[33]
This racial tension parallels the
See also
- Government in Omaha
- Gambling in Omaha, Nebraska
- Gun politics
References
- ^ Hull, J. (1993) "A Boy and his Gun", Time magazine. Retrieved 8/17/07.
- ^ "1906 Kidnapping" Archived 2010-11-26 at the Wayback Machine, NebraskaStudies.org. State of Nebraska. Retrieved 10/20/10.
- ^ Crime in Omaha Archived 2009-02-18 at the Wayback Machine, Greater Omaha Economic Development Council. Retrieved 5/13/08.
- ^ "Crime in the United States 2006". Archived from the original on 2014-02-09. Retrieved 2014-02-25. FBI 2006 Universal Crime Rate (UCR)
- ^ Leighton, G.R. (1939) Five Cities: The Story of Their Youth and Old Age. Ayer Publishing. p. 194
- ^ Roenfeld, R. (nd) Sam Bayliss on Broadway Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. The Historical Society of Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Retrieved 6/7/07.
- ^ Bristow, D. (2002) A Dirty, Wicked Town: Tale of 19th Century Omaha. Caxton Press. p. 74.
- ^ "Criminals and their deeds; The Omaha murder", The New York Times. November 7, 1881. Retrieved 5/26/08.
- ^ "The recent murder in Omaha", The New York Times. December 16, 1881. Retrieved 5/26/08.
- ^ "A Salvation Army tragedy", The New York Times. November 16, 1891. Retrieved 5/26/08.
- ^ Bristow, D.L. (2002) A Dirty, Wicked Town. Caxton Press. p 253.
- ^ "Lynchers under arrest", The New York Times. October 11, 1891. Retrieved 5/25/08.
- ^ "Ish admits he shot Chappele", The New York Times. June 11, 1895. Retrieved 5/26/08.
- ^ "A deserted wife's crime", The New York Times. November 18, 1888. Retrieved 5/25/08.
- ^ "Brutal murder of an Omaha girl", The New York Times. November 5, 1895. Retrieved 5/25/08.
- ^ "Policeman held for murder", The New York Times. April 14, 1899. Retrieved 5/25/08.
- ^ "Cudahy Kidnapping"[usurped]. Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved 9/25/07.
- ^ (nd) "Dennison's Political Machine" Archived 2007-08-15 at the Wayback Machine. NebraskaStudies.org. Retrieved 6/21/07.
- ^ The Race Riots of 1919-1920
- ^ (nd) "Dennison's Political Machine" Archived 2007-08-15 at the Wayback Machine. NebraskaStudies.org. Retrieved 6/21/07.
- ^ Beerman, B.J. (2004) Where the hell is Omaha? Archived 2007-06-07 at the Wayback Machine AmericanMafia.Com Retrieved 6/18/07.
- ^ Reid, E. (1970) The Grim Reapers. Bantam Books. p. 124.
- ^ Heinen, R. (1997) Battle Behind the Badge. Leathers Publishing.
- ^ "History of the Omaha Police Department (1900 - 1990)" Archived 2005-11-15 at the Wayback Machine City of Omaha Police Department. Retrieved 8/27/07.
- ^ "Edward Lowry", Policeman Down Memorial Page. Retrieved 5/11/08.
- ^ Larsen, L. & Cotrell, B. (1997). The gate city: A history of Omaha. University of Nebraska Press. P 164.
- ^ "South Omaha mob wars on Greeks", The New York Times. February 22, 1909. Retrieved 5/25/08.
- ^ Hill, J. (nd) “Interview: Helen Papanikolas.”
- ^ "No end to pain of 37 homicides". Archived from the original on 2013-01-30.
- ^ Burbach, C. "Robbery, fire evoke memories of neighborhood's racist past," Omaha World Herald. February 26, 2007.
- ^ 2.19.07 Neighbor: Store's owner has been target before. Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine KETV.com
- ^ Bristow, D. (2000) A Dirty, Wicked Town: Tales of 19th Century Omaha. Caxton Press.
- ^ Larsen, L. & Cotrell, B. (1997). The gate city: A history of Omaha. University of Nebraska Press.
External links
- Crime Statistics. Omaha Police Department
- Beerman, B.J. (2004) Where the hell is Omaha? Article tells the story of Omaha's organized crime scene, including roles for various ethnic groups.