Police Chief Offers Crime Trends for City Council

Police Chief Kyle Miller

Lamar Police Chief, Kyle Miller, distributed some annual crime statistics for the city council during their meeting, Monday, September 11th.  Administrator, John Sutherland, explained that the figures, taken as a group, might lead to some insights or provoke some thoughts about local crime issues.

Miller explained, “The figures run from 1999 to 2017 from January 1st to August 31st and a separate column displays our projections on statistics through the end of the year.”

There were ten different categories of crime in Lamar displayed and included: Assault, Burglary, Controlled Substances, Criminal Mischief, Driving Under the Influence, Robbery, Theft, Traffic Accidents, Trespass and Sex Assault.

The chief noted that there is a correlation between crime and drug trafficking in that drug users are more likely to commit break-ins and acts of theft to feed their drug habit. He also noted that some statistics come in periodic waves with no clear indication of what prompts them such as a spike in 2002 and in 2009 for sex assault reports.  The chart noted an increase between 2014 and 2015 for Assault which increased from 35 to 66 reported cases and for Burglary which increased from 63 to 104 cases.  Controlled substances also had a jump for the same period from 62 to 134 and Trespass went up from 83 to 152.  Thefts showed a jump from 205 in 2013 to 372 the following year, again, from January 1st to August 31st.

Year-to-date figures for the past three years up to August 31st are as follows:

Year

2015 2016 2017

Assault

40 40 40
Burglary 71 64

37

Controlled Sub.

102 67 65
Criminal Mischief 102 85

86

DUI

47 40 20
Robbery 1 2

2

Theft

265 232

132

Traffic Accident

153 178 169
Trespass 69 49

48

Sex Assault 2 8

11

Chief Miller told the council that overall, the numbers have been trending downwards and he hopes that can continue through the remainder of 2017.   City Attorney, Garth Nieschburg added, “From my experience as a judge and an attorney, the figures can go up through good policing efforts.  The assistance from the courts and the judicial system with the district attorney helps get the perpetrators off the streets.”

By Russ Baldwin

Filed Under: City of LamarConsumer IssuesFeaturedLaw EnforcementPolice ReportPublic Safety

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