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Colville, Washington |
Monday, January 5, 2009 |
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Stevens County crime was down in 2007, according to report |
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Wednesday, 30 July 2008 |
But statistics don't give reassurance
to residents and law enforcement
By JAMIE HENNEMAN
S-E Staff Reporter
According to a recently released report from the Washington Association of Sheriff’s and Police Chiefs (WASPC), crime dipped slightly in 2007 in Stevens County in comparison with the 2006 numbers.
The report, which is compiled from reports submitted by individual law enforcement agencies in Washington, showed that all crime in the state was down from 48.2 offenses per 1,000 citizens in 2006 to 43.3 offenses per 1,000 citizens in 2007.
These figures translate to the 777 crimes in Stevens County in 2006 being reduced to 764 crimes in 2007, or 23.6 offenses per 1,000 people in 2006 down to 22.6 offenses in 2007.
More with less for quite some time
These figures only provide slight optimism at best to Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer, who notes that the department has been doing “more with less” for some time.
“As the population in the county continues to grow, the need for staffing and the demand for services increases as well,” Thayer said. “Right now we have .6 officers per 1,000 people and the federal minimum for a county our size is 1.68 officers per 1,000 people. So we can be thankful that there are some declines.”
Thayer said his staff of 27 currently responds not only to crime related calls, but to emergency service calls made during events like fires and other natural disasters.
“Recently, we responded to a variety of calls in relation to the windstorm that came through the area as well as fires in various parts of the county. Those calls came in at the time we were following up on burglary investigations and a homicide,” he said. “When it comes to crime-related calls, after we have responded to the initial incident, we have to spend time on prepping cases for trial, time in court and time running the jail. So none of our personnel has a 40 hour a week job because we have to respond to all calls for service.”
Sheriff Thayer said that he makes it a priority to respond to calls where an officer is requested, but notes that with a limited staff he is forced to “triage” calls.
“We are dedicated to respond to all calls because if we don't address the small complaints, there is a possibility that that small complaint can escalate into a bigger problem,” he related. “So if a citizen wants to see an officer, we are going to make sure that can happen.”
Property crimes up
While Sheriff Thayer acknowledged that overall crime in Stevens County was slightly down in 2007 according to the report, he said there has been an increase in property crimes due to “drug and alcohol abuse.”
“There was been an increase both in methamphetamine usage in the area, as well as a disturbing amount of heroin and a resurgence of LSD,” Sheriff Thayer said. “People who are involved with drug and alcohol abuse like this are desperate for anything that will generate money for drugs. Along with illegal drugs, there has also been abuse of prescription drugs like oxycotin and methocodone.”
Rice area resident Linda Hovde said drugs may have been the motivator for the thieves who broke into her home this month, stealing jewelry, handguns and small electronics like I-pods and digital cameras.
“We came home and the place had been ransacked,” she said, noting that no one was home at the time of the robbery and she had left her door unlocked. “The dressers had been pulled out and things had been looked through, but nothing large like our TV or home computer was taken.”
Hovde said she considered the thieves to be “pretty brazen” since she lives down a half- mile driveway and also has several dogs at her home.
“We did leave the door unlocked, but you can only lock your place up so safe and I think they probably would have kicked the door in anyway,” she said. “Robbery is becoming a real problem in our area. We have four other neighbors who have also been burglarized within the last week.”
‘…I think it is because they are just swamped.’
Hovde said her insurance won't cover the items she lost because they discovered a clause in their insurance that requires a special rider for handguns and jewelry.
“I hope they catch the people who did this, because we would like to get our possessions back,” she said. “Our experience with the sheriff's department has been good, but we have had a hard time getting a follow-up call from them and I think it is because they are just swamped.”
Hovde said she personally would support an increase in property taxes if it meant that the sheriff's department could be more fully staffed.
“It just seems like they don't have enough manpower and right now I have heard that people are being robbed in all kinds of different ways,” she said. ”I've even heard that people are having food stolen out of their outdoor freezers and having wood stolen from their woodpiles.”
The possibility of getting more law enforcement officers in the near future is not good, according to Stevens County Commissioner Malcolm Friedman, due to the precarious financial situation of the county.
“In order to balance the 2008 county budget, we had to take $1.1 million out of savings just to meet the funding for our basic services. That only leaves us with about $300,000 in savings for the upcoming 2009 budget that will likely need a $1.1 million or more infusion of funds or more to keep everything up and running,” he said. “What we have coming here is a real crisis.”
‘What we have coming here is a real crisis.’
Stevens County Commissioner Merrill Ott said the county isn’t sure where the needed money for 2009 will come from, but he is sure it won’t be from the state government.
“The state is in a $2.7 billion dollar shortfall right now, so we don’t anticipate that there will be any money from the state to help us cover the expenses of our basic services,” he said. “At this point, we are just trying to maintain the status quo.”
To view the 2007 WASPC report, go to www.waspc.org. For more information about the Stevens County budget, visit www.co.stevens.wa.us.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 06 August 2008 )
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