Crime statistics for Sweet Home generally continued a downward trend, which has lasted for several years, in 2009.

Crime numbers spiked in 2004 and 2005 and have been declining since, according to Police Chief Bob Burford, while arrests have gone up in proportion.

The information is part of the Sweet Home Police Department’s Annual Report for 2009. The information also will be compiled by the FBI and released later this year as part of the Uniform Crime Reports.

Among possible factors, Burford partially attributes the trends to having more officers on the streets.

Sweet Home Police Department received 264 reports of theft in 2009, down two from the year before and down from 459 five years earlier. Ten years ago, the department received 279 theft reports.

The city had 53 reported burglaries in 2009, down from 107 the year before, 146 in 2004 and 85 in 1999.

Criminal mischief was down to 132 from 214 in 2008 and 177 in 2004. The city had 131 reports of criminal mischief in 1999.

Overall, Sweet Home had 343 serious, called part one, in 2009, down from 465 in 2008, 703 in 2004 and 412 in 1999. Part one crimes include burglary and theft, as well aggravated assault, arson, forcible rape, motor vehicle theft, murder, attempted murder and robbery.

Criminal mischief is a part two crime, which also includes simple assault, fraud, drug offenses, disorderly conduct, warrant arrest and other less serious crimes.

The city had a total of 1,789 part two crimes in 2009, down from 2,020 in 2008, 1,951 in 2004 and 1,791 in 1999.

Part three crimes include domestic calls, disturbances, agency assists, alarms, ambulance assists, animal complaints, drug information, suspicious activity, impounds and other minor calls.

The department had 5,894 part three calls in 2009, down from 6,435 in 2008 and 6,831 in 2004. The department had 5,266 part three calls in 1999.

Among part three statistics, impounds were down to 197 from 517 in 2008, 347 in 2004 and 390 in 1999. The department changed its impound policy early in 2009 in accordance with a Ninth Circuit Court decision based on the Fourth Amendment that said police could not impound vehicles despite an Oregon law that permits police to impound vehicles driven by
unlicensed, uninsured or drunken drivers.

The department wrote fewer citations for driving uninsured as a result, Police Chief Bob Burford said. Often, during an impound for another offense, an officer will learn that a vehicle is uninsured.

Though fewer people are getting ticketed for driving without insurance, Burford said, “You get in an accident with them, you’re going to have a problem.”

Overall, police wrote 492 financial responsibility citations, which includes driving uninsured charges, in 2008. In 2009, police wrote 244 citations.

Traffic citations were down to 917 in 2009 from 969 in 2008.

Police arrested 1,168 persons in 2009, down from 1,384 in 2008. In 2004, police arrested only 1,051; and in 1999, they arrested 879.

While crime rates were higher in 2004, the department had fewer officers, Burford said. In 2004 and 2005, the department had 11 to 13 officers. In 2008 and 2009, the department has generally had 16 officers.

“The bottom line from what I see is 2004, 2005, we just got slaughtered,” Burford said. “We weren’t keeping up with it.

“We brought our officer level back up to meet the challenge, and we’re starting to see the crime rate trend downward.”

Among other statistics to be released in the department’s annual report this month, police logged 7,758 complaints, down from 8,441 in 2008 and 8,854 in 2004 and up from 6,981 in 1999.

The city had about $311,650 in property loss in 2009 compared to $284,646 in 2008, $2.2 million in 2004 and $144,557 in 1999. Recovered property amounted to $56,135 in 2009, $67,085 in 2008, $167,375 in 2004 and $39,554 in 1999.

Police drove 186,324 miles in 2009, compared to 197,224 in 2008, 145,305 in 2004 and 110,992 in 1999.