Sean C. Morgan
The number of calls for service, arrests, cases cleared and reported crimes increased from 2002 to 2003 in Sweet Home.
By contrast, about the only statistic that decreased were the number of citations and warnings issued for traffic violations.
“The busier you are on other things, the less time you have to devote to traffic,” Police Chief Bob Burford said.
“The more I do this, the more I’m convinced there’s a certain amount of criminal activity that we the police department can have an impact on,” Chief Burford said. There’s a certain amount of crime that will happen no matter what depending on socio-economic factors and simply who is not in prison at a given time.
“ID theft is the coming crime,” Chief Burford said. “We’re seeing more and more of it. That’s the crime of choice right now. Law enforcement is ramping up to deal with it, but we’re not dealing with it very well right now.”
Part I crimes, serious crimes, including theft, robbery, murder, rape, burglary and motor vehicle thefts were up in 2003, partially as a result of a spike in the number of stolen vehicles earlier in the year when Sweet Home had rash of Hondas stolen.
In part I crimes, there were no murders or murder attempts in 2003. Sweet Home had five rapes, the same as 2002. Burglaries were up to 108 from 76. Aggravated assaults were down to 33 from 45. Robbery was up to two from zero. Motor vehicle thefts were up to 59 from 25. Thefts were at 399, up from 303.
Total part I crimes reported were 608 up from 457. Of those, 130 were cleared, up from 108.
Part II crimes are less serious offenses, including criminal mischief, drug offenses, forgery, fraud, simple assault, driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) and others.
Criminal mischiefs were down to 120 from 138. Disorderly conduct was down to 104 from 151. Assaults were down from 124 to 102. Drug offenses were up to 60 from 36. Trespasses increased from 107 to 122. DUIIs were up to 43 from 21. Warrant arrests were up to 481 from 338, and traffic crimes increased from 96 to 118.
Total, part II crimes were up to 1,670 from 1,537. Part II crimes cleared were up to 1,255 from 1,149.
Part III statistics include licensing, alarm permits, accidents, found property, fireworks complaints, drug information, domestic disturbances and a variety of other reports.
Total part III crimes were down from 5,696 to 5,817.
Police issued 959 traffic citations and 1,737 warnings in 2003 down from 1,070 and 2,145 respectively in 2002.
Sweet Home police arrested 978 persons in 2003 up from 881 in 2002. Of those, 262 were juveniles, up from 343.
Total complaints issued were 7,819 up from 7,295. Property loss was valued at $565,628 up from $270,847, but property recovered was valued at $246,892 up from $78,685.
On a 10-year scale, part I and II arrests spiked in 1996 at 1,807 with a low of 682 in 1995.
Total complaints spiked in 2000 at 7,894 and decreased to 7,836 in 2001 before dropping further in 2002 and back up in 2003. The lowest number of complaints was in the last 10 years was in 7,004 in 1996.
In three key areas monitored by police, burglaries reached a 10-year high in 2003 reaching a level last seen in 1994, which had 106. Burglaries decreased after 1994 to a low of 69 in 1998.
Thefts were at 443 in 1994 to reach a 10-year high. They decreased to 391 the next year then reached a 10-year low in 1999 and 2000 at 279 reports.
Criminal mischiefs steadily declined from 1994 at 191 to 104 in 2001 before increasing to 138 in 2002 and dropping to 120 in 2003.