Sean C. Morgan
City crime statistics continued moving in the right direction for Sweet Home last year in key areas even as the total number of complaints to the Police Department increased slightly.
Police responded to 9,914 calls for service last year, up from 9,648 the year before but down from the Sweet Home Police Department’s record of 10,161 in 2015.
SHPD completed its annual report on Feb. 9 and was scheduled to present it to the City Council Tuesday.
In key areas, the number of reported crimes continued to decline in 2017.
The report is divided into crimes considered more serious –called “Part 1,” and others less so – “Part 2.”
Part I Reports
Sweet Home residents reported 39 burglaries in 2017, a 28-percent decrease from 54 complaints in 2016. The number has declined annually over the past five years. In 2013, the department received almost 2½ times as many burglary complaints, with 94, as last year.
“I wish we could take some credit,” said Police Chief Jeff Lynn, noting that it is difficult to tell exactly what drives changes up or down in crime statistics. “When numbers are up, it’s really the result of a select few that cause issues.”
In the case of low-frequency statistics such as burglary, a small number of individuals can increase the number of reports. If they’re in prison or jail or just not in the area, that can decrease the number of reports.
Lynn said another reason for the decline is that residents could be securing their property better.
The number of reported thefts continued to decline for the third straight year, with 360 complaints in 2017, a 5.5 decrease from 2016, which had 381 reported thefts. In the past five years, the number peaked in 2014 with 570 reported thefts.
“That’s a fantastic number,” said Lynn, who was more willing to credit law enforcement and individual security measures for decreases to that statistic.
“I can give credit to the officers,” Lynn said. “They work really hard to keep their clearance rates up.”
Small thefts are relatively easy to prove, Lynn said. Also, high-quality video surveillance is becoming more widespread, and these two factors may serve as a deterrent.
“We’ll maybe see over time.”
Motor vehicle theft increased to 31 in 2017 from a five-year low of 17 in 2016. Motor vehicle thefts peaked at 43 in 2015. A relative spike in the statistic, the number is a little higher than the five-year average of 28.6 vehicle thefts, he noted.
Again, a small number of people can influence that statistic, Lynn said.
“It’s not just Sweet Home that’s experiencing an increase in motor vehicle thefts.” That number is increasing countywide, he said.
Those three statistics – burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft – account for nearly all Part I crimes, the most serious crimes. Elsewhere among Part I crime statistics, Sweet Home had 11 aggravated assaults in 2017, the same as 2016. It had one arson, three forcible rapes, one murder and two robberies.
Sweet Home totaled 448 Part I crimes in 2017, down from 469 in 2016. During the past five years, the number peaked in 2014 with 717 reported Part I crimes, 60 percent more than in 2017. The five-year average is 565 Part I crimes.
Officers cleared – or resolved – 149 Part I crimes in 2017, the lowest number in the past five years. That’s 33 percent of the reported crimes. They cleared the most in 2015, with 219 out of 641 complaints, 34 percent. In 2014, they cleared 215 reports, 29.9 percent.
Part II Reports
Among Part II crimes – generally less serious crimes, criminal mischief reports were at their lowest in five years with 114 in 2017. That is just one report less than in 2015 but 41 less than the statistic’s peak in 2014.
Part II crimes include a variety of offenses, ranging from animal offenses, curfew, driving under the influence, loitering, littering and drug offenses to ordinance violations, runaway, sex offenses, simple assault and traffic offenses.
Where most statistics were lower or around average in 2017, two Part II statistics had substantial increases in 2017.
Sweet Home saw a five-year high in reports of disorderly conduct, 73 in 2017, up from a five-year low of 33 reports in 2016. The five-average is 47.6 disorderly conduct complaints.
The number of warrant arrests increased by 51.6 percent, in 2017, from 587 to 890. The statistic reached its five-year high of 957 in 2015. Its five-year low was 511 in 2013.
Police officials will take a deeper look at the underlying statistics to try to help understand what’s going on with disorderly conduct and warrant arrests, Lynn said.
With disorderly conduct, for example, he said, they’ll look at whether each tends to involve a specific location or specific persons. That exercise might provide details police can use to address the problems.
Overall, Sweet Home had 1,910 Part II crimes reported in 2017, a 40-percent increase over 2016, which had 1,362 Part II reports, but around the average for the past five years. The year 2017 is the second-lowest among the past five, which had a peak of 2,157 reports in 2014 and a five-average of 1,924.4 Part II crimes reported. Police had a clearance rate of 72 percent in 2017, clearing 1,376 of the 1,910 reported crimes.
Arrests
In 2017, Sweet Home police arrested 1,093 persons on 1,789 charges, including 866 adults on 1,503 charges and 227 juveniles on 286 charges. That was up from 1,051 persons on 1,767 charges in 2016. It is the second largest number of people arrested and charges in the past five years. Police arrested 1,290 on 1,850 charges in 2015. On average the past five years, police arrested 1,068.4 persons on 1,661.8 charges.
The busiest day of the week shifted to Wednesday from Thursday, which has been the busiest day of the week since at least 2014. It was significantly busier than other days in 2014 and 2015 before the number of calls on that day fell into line with other weekdays in 2016.
Last year, the department averaged 1,565 of its calls on Wednesdays, up from 1,498 in 2016. Thursdays had 1,538 last year, up from 1,514 in 2016. The remaining weekdays had slightly more than 1,500 calls each last year.
Weekdays are half again as busy as those on the weekend. SHPD received an average of 1,036 calls on Sundays and 1,196 calls on Saturdays.
“You want to be out and about Sundays,” said Police Chief Jeff Lynn. “And Saturdays aren’t bad either.”
“I think the numbers show the trajectory looks good,” Lynn said. “We really like where the numbers are, the trajectory we’re on. That’s really a testament to the officers, sergeants and the effort they’re putting into it.”
He and his staff will be looking at ways to keep that momentum and address those areas where statistics are going the wrong way, such as with runaways, which rose to 90 reports in 2017, up from 46 in 2016 and a five-year low of 25 in 2014.
“Is that going to translate into something else (as those children become adults)?” Lynn wondered.