Sean C. Morgan
Counting code enforcement activity, 2014 was the Sweet Home Police Department’s busiest year in history.
The department handled 9,690 calls, according to its 2014 annual report. The previous record was 9,547 in 2005 when the department did not handle code enforcement. Of the total in 2014, the department handled 501 code enforcement reports.
In an apples-to-apples comparison, the department responded to 9,189 calls in 2014, 358 less than in 2005.
The call volumes are continuing unabated so far this year, said Police Chief Jeff Lynn. As of Feb. 28, the department had received 1,386 calls for service. Last year at the same time, the department had received 1,292 calls for service.
“We’re developing some focused patrols,” Lynn said. “We’ve had a lot of discussion on that to try to tackle some problem areas.”
The patrols will focus on geographical areas where problems are most prevalent, some parks, the downtown core and downtown Nandina Street, Lynn said, but issues with staffing are hampering the department’s ability to implement the focused patrols.
“We’re currently down an officer,” Lynn said. “A former officer basically didn’t make probation.”
The department has started the process to hire a new police officer, Lynn said. From the start of the process, it takes about 11 months to get an officer on the road.
The department has one officer off on paternity leave, Lynn said, and a second officer is expecting to take paternity leave soon. They can be off for up to 12 weeks.
To help mitigate future staffing shortages, the department is in the process of hiring three reserve officers, Lynn said. Ideally, he would like to have six reserve officers working by the end of the year, but finding qualified officers is difficult. The department will hold reserve officers to the same standard as regular officers.
Lynn is hoping to get the department back up to full speed by mid-April and carry the momentum forward into the summer.
Calls for service tend to dominate officers’ time and limit their free time, Lynn said, but he wants to dedicate patrol time to specific areas at specific times.
Property crimes were higher in 2014 than 2013, with the number of thefts increasing from 426 to 570. Burglary reports fell from 94 to 87, while criminal mischief reports increased from 130 to 145.
The department handled 402 thefts, 107 burglaries and 162 criminal mischief complaints in 2012.
Theft calls run the gamut, from shoplifting to items stolen from vehicles and private property, Lynn said.
Motor vehicle thefts were up from 22 in 2012 and 20 in 2013 to 32 in 2014.
That was a countywide problem in 2014, Lynn said.
“I truly believe drugs are driving our crime,” Lynn said. “Those thefts are the result of drug use and abuse and looking to acquire more drugs.”
Rising heroin use and abuse in the past couple of years is probably a contributing factor, Lynn said. When individuals are coming off of heroin, withdrawal can be extremely painful.
In other statistics, the busiest day of the week is Wednesday – by a slim margin, based on select calls for service, including mental issues, theft, burglary, criminal mischief, motor vehicle crashes and disturbances.
During 2014, officers responded to 297 calls on Wednesdays, 291 on Saturdays, 290 on Fridays, 289 on Tuesdays, 278 on Mondays and 243 on Sundays.
The slowest day of the week in local law enforcement was Thursday, with just 155 calls.