Overdoses, car-breaks grab attention in Fall River last month

Here are some trends that emerged from tracking last month's crimes in Fall River

FALL RIVER — Shootings, motor vehicle crimes, drug raids and overdoses were the main crime and public safety-related news for Fall River in May.

According to The Herald News' Crime and Overdose Map for 2018, police, fire and paramedics last month responded to at least 59 overdoses throughout Fall River, including the Flint, Corky Row, the South End, the Highlands, the North End and elsewhere.

That statistic is sobering enough when one remembers that those are just the calls that were specifically coded as "overdose" in the daily 911 police dispatch logs. The actual number is most likely higher because some calls that are coded as "medical emergency" turn out to be overdoses.

Here are some other trends that emerged from tracking last month's crimes in Fall River:

1. There seemed to be a lot of motor vehicle-related property crimes. We counted at least 21 reported car-breaks. Most of those were reported in the Flint, but there were reported car-breaks throughout the city. There were seven reports of car-breaks in a three-day span last week. And that's not mentioning the reports of stolen cars (9) or motor vehicle vandalisms (4) that we documented. The bottom line: lock your vehicles, especially at night.

2. We reported on five drug raids in which six people were arrested on distribution or trafficking charges. In those raids, police seized a total of 117 glassine bags of heroin, more than 331 grams of cocaine and around $3,830 in alleged drug proceeds.

3. We reported on two shootings. On May 7, a 29-year-old man was shot in the leg near the corner of Pleasant and Country streets. The next day, about a half-dozen shots were fired on Fourth Street, possibly from a moving vehicle. There were no reported injuries. Police have not made any arrests in either incident.

4. Last month we reported on four armed assaults, one armed robbery, two unarmed robberies and at least 28 reported of break-ins of commercial and residential properties.

5. Finally, it's important to note: these are are not official crime statistics. Monitoring the 911 dispatch logs and tracking incidents on the crime and overdose map is done to give residents a rough idea of what day-to-day public safety responses look like in Fall River.

Email Brian Fraga at bfraga@heraldnews.com