Sean C. Morgan
The number of aggravated assaults in Sweet Home more than doubled, from nine in 2011 to 19 in 2012, leading to an increase in the city’s violent crime rate based on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, released Sept. 16.
Sweet Home had 27 reported violent crimes and 499 property crimes in 2012.
That’s up from 14 violent crimes in 2011 and up from 482 property crimes in 2011.
The crime rate in Sweet Home in 2012 was 57.8 per 1,000 population, up from 54.99 per 1,000 in 2011. Sweet Home’s violent crime rate was 2.97 per 1,000 population in 2012, up from 1.55 in 2011. The property crime rate increased from 53.44 in 2011 to 54.84 in 2012. The same numbers were up slightly from 2010 to 2011.
Violent crimes include murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Property crimes include burglary, theft, arson and motor vehicle theft. The statistics do not show less serious crimes, such as criminal mischief and simple assault.
The FBI cautions against comparing communities because a variety of factors influence the crime rate.
In 2012, Sweet Home had no murders, three forcible rapes, five robberies and 19 aggravated assaults. In 2011, Sweet Home had one murder, no forcible rapes, four robberies and nine aggravated assaults.
Burglaries were up from 75 in 2011 to 99 in 2012. Thefts were down to 378 in 2012 from 392 in 2011. There were 22 vehicle thefts in 2012 up from 15 in 2011. Three arsons were reported in 2012, while two were reported in 2011.
In 2010, Sweet Home had three forcible rapes, two robberies and 12 aggravated assaults under violent crime. Under property crime, it had 74 burglaries, 369 thefts, nine motor vehicle thefts and one arson.
While the number of reported crimes tracked in the UCR increased, overall calls for service were down in 2012, from 8,505 in 2011 to 7,764 in 2011. Among crimes not tracked by the FBI, Sweet Home’s number of criminal mischief complaints increased from 160 in 2011 to 166 in 2012.
Police Chief Jeff Lynn noted that the increase in violent crimes doesn’t necessarily translate into a greater threat to the general public, noting that tracking the increases in percentages doesn’t really say much about the increases, especially, for example, going from zero to three forcible rapes.
“Those violent crimes aren’t a stranger rape,” Lynn said. In one case, the victim knew the suspect, and in the other two, it involved family members.
While aggravated assaults increased, 14 of the 19 were domestic violence situations, Lynn said. “The domestic violence really affected our aggravated assaults this year.”
The others were assaults between people who knew each other, he said. “I don’t think you could point to a reason. I think there’s a variety of reasons why these fluctuate year in and year out.”
“We’re still talking a very small number,” Lynn said. In a small community, small increases in small numbers can look significant.
“I don’t think the stats show the whole story,” Lynn said.
In October 2011, the department laid off a police officer as part of budget cuts. By January 2012, three officers had gone to work for Lebanon Police Department, and Sweet Home Police Department was down by four certified officers.
“It took us to August, September to really recover, by the time we replaced all four of them,” Lynn said. In the meantime, the department started working to expand the Neighborhood Watch program, an effort that is ongoing, with 13 active groups and three more about to get started.
“It’s a community effort,” Lynn said. “It takes a community effort to take care of it.”
He urges members of the public to call police at (541) 367-5181 any time they see anything suspicious or otherwise odd.
Around Linn County, Albany had a combined crime rate of 31.79 per 1,000 population, up from 29.3 in 2011. Lebanon had a crime rate of 48.41, down from 54.14 in 2011.
Around the state, Portland had a rate of 56.09, with a violent crime rate of 5.17 per 1,000 population. Silverton, slightly larger than Sweet Home, experienced a crime rate of 16.18, while Salem was at 46.36 and Eugene was at 53.37.
Nationally, the violent crime rate increased slightly, by .7 percent to 3.87 per 1,000 population, while property crime fell for the 10th year in a row, dropping by .9 percent to 28.59, a combined rate of 32.46.
The number of murders and aggravated assaults increased slightly, by .4 percent, while every other category decreased.
The statewide violent crime rate decreased .7 percent to 2.48 per 1,000. The Oregon property crime rate increased 2.3 percent to 32.24 per 1,000 population.