City on pace for low crime rate

The Wenatchee World Online

Friday, December 1, 2006

http://www.wenworld.com/sub/story.php?id=1165000861-567-360

By Jaime Adame, World staff writer

WENATCHEE — The most recent statistics shed light on only the first six months of this year, but the 2006 crime rate could be the lowest in more than 20 years, based on an analysis of crime numbers released this week by a state police group.

Reported crime was down compared to the same time period last year in both Wenatchee and elsewhere in Chelan County, with a 30 percent decrease in violent crime countywide and a 20 percent decrease in property crime. The statistics comparing crime numbers for the first half of 2006 with the same time period last year comes from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.

The decrease in Wenatchee reported crime is “kind of a combination of public education, probably good police work and … a little bit of luck,” Wenatchee police Chief Tom Robbins said, adding that he would be surprised if there is more crime in the second-half of the year compared to the first half.

Last year, the Wenatchee crime rate — the number of crimes reported per 1,000 residents — was the lowest since at least 1985, based on an analysis of crime and population statistics.
The statistics cover eight types of crime in two categories. Violent crimes included in the statistics are murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Property crimes included are arson, burglary, larceny and vehicle theft. The statistics are reported by individual law enforcement agencies.

An analysis of the numbers shows that even if reported crime in Wenatchee increases by 75 percent in the latter half of the year compared to the first half, Wenatchee would still have a lower crime rate than last year. Last year, reported crime increased by about 11 percent in the second half of the year compared to the first half.

And if the number of crimes in the second half is exactly the same as in the first half, the crime rate — number of crimes per 1,000 residents — would be 45.6, compared to 63.6 last year.
That rate would be less than half of the crime rate reported in 1998, when there were 94.8 crimes per 1,000 residents. The crime rate has fallen nearly every year since then in Wenatchee.

Earlier this year, the Wenatchee-metro area was ranked the safest out of a dozen Washington metro areas by Morgan Quitno Press, a Kansas-based research and publishing company. Nationally, the company ranked the Wenatchee area 83rd among 344 metropolitan areas with populations of 75,000 or more.

Projecting the yearly crime rate for Wenatchee by simply doubling the first-half numbers shows that it would be higher than the projected crime rate of similar-sized Bothell (about 30 crimes per 1,000 residents) and about the same as Walla Walla (about 47 crimes per 1,000 residents). But it would also be much lower than the projected rate for Longview (about 92 crimes per 1,000 residents), for example.

Elsewhere, the East Wenatchee annexation of 583 acres — increasing its population by about 3,000 residents — which took effect in January could explain the 17 percent increase in crime reported by the city’s police department. But the crime rate per 1,000 residents actually dropped compared to the same six-month period last year.

For the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, the annexation led to a population decrease. Yet the number of reported crimes actually increased, by 7 percent compared to the same period last year.

Should Wenatchee residents think that their city is safer now than in the recent past?
“I think to a certain extent it is, but they still need to be vigilant and do what’s necessary to protect their property and well-being,” Robbins said, explaining that citizens should use common sense and do things such as lock their cars to avoid theft.

He also credited the Columbia River Drug Task Force and the police department’s anti-gang efforts with helping reduce crime this year.

Chelan County Sheriff Mike Harum initially guessed that theft and burglaries had actually increased in the county so far this year.

When told of the decrease, he said he thought drug enforcement efforts have helped. But he also said the crime rate is decreasing “primarily because of the citizens,” crediting informal conversations between citizens and deputies as well as more formal community meetings with helping lead to better policing and less crime.

“Are we truly safer? I believe we are when we as citizens work closely with our public safety agencies,” Harum said.

Statewide, reported crime decreased by 7.2 percent in the first half of 2006 compared to the same time period in 2005, although violent crime increased by 4.6 percent.