Sean C. Morgan
Based on statistics from 2018, Police Chief Jeff Lynn wants to tackle an ongoing cycle that results in hundreds of new warrants issued each year, he said.
In 2018, Sweet Home Municipal Court entered 784 warrants, primarily for failure to appear in court or failure to comply with sentence requirements.
Roughly, the Municipal Court holds court two days per month, Lynn said. Based on that, “every court day, we’re looking at 32 to 33 warrants, on average.”
In 2018, Sweet Home police arrested people on 1,253 warrants, more than half of a total of 2,152 arrest charges for the year and 3.43 per day. That statistic reflects one charge per warrant, but individuals may have several warrant charges.
Lynn did not have statistics from previous years available at press time.
Typically, subjects are arrested on warrants, booked at Sweet Home Police Department and then released. Sometimes, subjects are cited on the warrant and released in the field without going to the department.
“For a community of 9,000 people, I think we need to really dive into those figures a little bit more and figure out if there are things we can do to minimize or eliminate some of them,” Lynn said. The way warrant arrests are handled now raises the question about whether the community is holding people accountable for their crimes.
Lynn emphasized that he is not blaming Sweet Home Municipal Court.
Rather, this is a problem in communities across Linn County among municipal courts, justice courts and the Circuit Court, Lynn said. “I guarantee Sweet Home isn’t the only community dealing with this.”
Subjects are often cited and released because Linn County Jail does not have beds for municipal court cases, which are mostly misdemeanors.
The issue has been ongoing for decades, and warrants consume a lot of staff time, including court clerks, dispatchers and officers.
“I don’t have answers,” Lynn said. “This year, going forward, we need to start digging into that.”
He said he is looking into what, if anything, the Police Department and community can do to address it, noting that “we’ll never eliminate it.”
Elsewhere in the 2018 statistics, the number of reported thefts increased from 360 in 2017 to 429 in 2018 after declining for four straight years from a peak of 570 in 2014.
Lynn attributed that increase primarily to a spike in the number of reported unauthorized entries into motor vehicles.
The number of reported vehicle break-ins has fallen this year, Lynn said. Likely, he said, those responsible last year’s surge have been jailed or left the area.
The department has spent the past year attempting to raise awareness about the issue and running focused patrols in problem areas, Lynn said. Vehicles entered generally continue to be unlocked, with a handful inicating signs of forced entry.
Sweet Home Police Department received 43 burglary complaints in 2018, up from 29 in 2017. The number had declined steadily since 2013 when the department received 94 complaints.
Sweet Home had 110 reports of criminal mischief in 2018, down from 114 in 2017, which last peaked in 2014 with 155 reports of criminal mischief.
Sweet Home had a total of 642 reported property crimes in 2018, including 10 forgeries, 19 frauds, one possession of a stolen vehicle, five robberies and 24 unauthorized uses of motor vehicles – along with theft, burglary and criminal mischief. Of those, 222 were cleared by arrest or unfounded.
The department received 151 reports of person crimes. Those included 55 reports of harassment, 15 sex crimes, 28 violations of restraining orders and 22 assaults. Of those, 104 were cleared by arrest or unfounded.
The department arrested 1,007 adults on 1,905 charges and 157 juveniles on 247 charges.
Officers issued 556 traffic citations to 371 drivers and warned 1,343 in 1,721 traffic stops. The majority of citations, 295, were for violating the rules of the road, such as speeding and driving while suspended. Police issued 135 citations for violations such as driving uninsured and failure to carry proof of insurance.
Police received 306 reports of “crimes against society,” which include violations such as alcohol offenses, curfew violations, disorderly conduct, driving under the influence, resisting arrest, trespassing and others. Among them, 257 were unfounded or cleared by arrest.
Sweet Home had 66 curfew violations, 58 trespassing reports, 23 reported DUIs and 55 runaway juveniles.
The department responded to 8,684 non-criminal incidents ranging from abandoned vehicles and animal issues to traffic reports and suspicious activity. The majority of responses were to suspicious activity, with 1,191 reports.
The department also documented information 967 times, collected found property 497 times, responded to 559 animal complaints and received 444 reports of disturbances.
Lynn said the department will take a look at the issues driving animal complaints and disturbances this year.
He has no plans to adjust staffing levels this year, he said. The department has three new officers in training at this point, with one open detective position that will be filled by a current patrol officer later this year after the new officers complete their training.
He said the department would start the detective selection process in the next few months.
The department is in the process of getting rid of older vehicles, Lynn said. The department is using three Ford SUVs, a Dodge Charger and one Ford Crown Victoria on patrol. The older Crown Victoria is in use by a sergeant.
He said the Crown Victoria model has been and continues to be a reliable vehicle. The department switched to the Dodge Chargers when Ford stopped making the Crown Victoria.
The department recently surplussed its last Chevorolet Impala, which left the patrol fleet years ago.
Lynn said he wants to get back to rotating out a vehicle annually as vehicles hit 110,000 to 130,000 miles.
With its higher-mileage vehicles, the department has noticed an increase in maintenance costs, he said.
The department will continue to move forward with special projects.
This month, Sgt. Jason Van Eck is working on a plan to address ongoing concerns about traffic issues downtown.
Sgt. Chris Wingo is upgrading the department’s training program, integrating his experience as a Department of Public Safety Standards and Training instructor.
Lynn continues to work on homeless issues. The first Adult Services Team meeting will occur later this month. The AST works with individual homeless or nearly homeless individuals to provide resources from various agencies and organizations.