Snohomish crime trends stable - Snohomish County Tribune

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By MELANIE RUSSELL
Published October 11, 2017

Snohomish crime trends stable

SNOHOMISH — Crime trends are consistent to last year, Police Department statistics show.
Police Chief Keith Rogers presented a quarterly report on incidents, which ran from June through August of this year to the City Council last week. It was Rogers’ first report to council as the new police chief.
Rogers said the bulk of the calls for service occurred in the city. The total
number of calls for incidents was 921 for June, 925 for July and 988 for August.
“Our totals were consistent with past calls for service in this timeframe,” Rogers said. “It’s par for the course for police work.”
For property crimes, thefts decreased between June and August.
There were 18 thefts in June, 17 in July and 15 in August. In the quarter, for shoplifting incidents, there were three in June, one in July and two in August.
Robberies also went down with two in June, one in July and zero in August.
Vehicle thefts were also down over the quarter, with six in June, five in July and four in August.
Burglaries increased, with two in June, nine in July and eight in August.
“Those types of property crimes are frustrating for homeowners,” Rogers said. “As you can see, most of the crime happens in the downtown corridor, while the northern part of town has less property crime.”
In June, police saw 23 DUIs, 18 in July and 17 in August. Rogers confirmed the DUIs all occurred within city limits.
“I’m kinda the new guy in town, but I can tell you those are significant numbers, those are double-digits,” Rogers said of the DUIs. “I don’t know the historical data, but we’d like to get those closer to zero.”
For traffic incidents, the traffic stops increased the most.
Police did 107 traffic stops in June, 126 in July and 82 in August. The other traffic incidents remained under the number 40 with the number of collisions coming close in June at 38. In July, it was 27, but then increased to 49 in August.
“It’s been my experience that typically traffic concerns are dragging a lot of communities,” he said.
Rogers said not all traffic stops result in citations.
Rogers also reported the number of tickets issued.
There were 13 in June, 14 in July and 12 in August. Rogers said sometimes, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office motor patrol unit will come through town and work traffic enforcement to give out tickets.
“There’s been more tickets issued through the (Sheriff’s Office) motor unit than by the Police Department,” Rogers said. The numbers do not break down between city and county law enforcement.
Councilwoman Lynn Schilaty asked what people should do to report non-emergencies for crimes that they witness in town if they don’t know the county non-emergency number.
Rogers said to call 911, if the non-emergency number isn’t memorized, because dispatchers are highly skilled at answering and getting information forwarded.
Mayor Tom Hamilton asked if there were any safety concerns and Rogers told him the numbers were consistent.
Councilman Jason Sanders asked if in the next quarterly report if Rogers could provide data on the calls or stops that were for public assistance. Sanders said he witnessed the deputies make about
five stops during his recent ride-along shift where the deputies would offer assistance and resources to individuals.
Sanders told Rogers if there’s a way to show those numbers for public assistance calls, it would be good to see.