Crime has increased with immigrant population; serious offenses haven’t

Published 12:00 am Monday, October 22, 2001

As Albert Lea debates the merits of a new Farmland plant, some have raised the concern that immigrant workers are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime in the community – but officials say serious crimes have not risen in the last decade, during which the Hispanic population has doubled.

Monday, October 22, 2001

As Albert Lea debates the merits of a new Farmland plant, some have raised the concern that immigrant workers are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime in the community – but officials say serious crimes have not risen in the last decade, during which the Hispanic population has doubled.

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According to the State Criminal Justice Center data, the number of reported crimes in the county has increased from 2,494 in 1990 to 2,857 in 1999. Arrests and apprehensions have also surged from 2,041 to 3,356 in the same period.

Nevertheless, eight offenses – murder, negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson – that are categorized as serious crimes show slight decreases in terms of both the number of reports, and arrest and apprehension.

In 1999, 17 percent of 315 people arrested or apprehended for serious crimes were Hispanic, while the Hispanic population in total was 6.3 percent of the county, according to Census 2000.

However, the higher criminal ratio among Hispanics needs to be examined carefully.

First, the census may not reflect the actual number. It is known that minority groups, particularly new immigrants, have a lower response rate in the census. Unofficial estimates count 14 percent of the county population as Hispanic.

Second, the ethnicities documented by the police are based on various circumstances. The records may be from birth records or from more casual classification such as observation, self-identification and social custom rather than heredity. Even birth records are misleading since they are based on the ethnicity of the mother only.

In addition, jumping on the ethnicity to explain the higher crime ratio also may be wrong when other variables are introduced into the analysis. Such variables are education level, family status, income, housing density and residential mobility. If those factors are controlled in the statistical treatment, the ethnicity is often not predictive of criminal behavior.

Farmland, which employed 450 to 500 people before a July 8 fire shut the plant down, employed a high percentage of Spanish-speaking immigrants, and it is assumed that a new, 720-employee plant would do the same.

Law enforcement officials, however, say they are not worried about the predicted inflow of immigrant workers if a new plant is built.

County attorney Craig Nelson emphasized the readiness of the community for receiving newcomers. &uot;Yes, the inflow may become a burden for various social services, but the community is already used to it. Such services including law enforcement are prepared for providing appropriate assistance for everyone including non-English speakers.&uot;

&uot;Albert Lea has a long history of accepting immigrants, and is much more prepared than any other communities where Farmland is considering building the new plant,&uot; he added.

Albert Lea Police Department Chief Tom Menning shares the perspective. &uot;We already had the plant before. I do not foresee any problem more than we used to have,&uot; he said.