Carson City sheriff reports serious crime down 4 percent in 2010

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong announced law enforcement statistics for the year, including a 4 percent drop in most felony crimes.

Crime rates for the year continued to decline in 2010. By the end of the year, Part I Crime decreased by four percent (1,826 occurrences) from the 2009 levels (1,900 occurrences) and down 13 percent from 2008, (2,103 occurrences.) Part 1 Crimes cover homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary, theft, theft from vehicles, and auto theft. (See attachment or click here and scroll to current crime trends.)

This trend is consistent with state and national trends heading in the same direction, Furlong said in a press statement.

"To our advantage, crime clearance rates in Carson City continue to show progress this year with a preliminary estimate of over 40 percent. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank and congratulate everyone for a great year," Furlong said.

These preliminary indicators have met the administration's expectations in all measured areas. Although at the half-way point of calendar year 2010, the Sheriff's Office experienced deep cuts in its budget, still, service levels continue to be "delivered exceptionally," Furlong said.

"When we measure emergency and priority 1 call response times (time from call received at dispatch to time first deputy arrives on scene) our delivery continues to improve even with fewer staff," the sheriff states.

Furlong also points to notable achievement made in the community and department in 2010. For eight years the department has used CompStat and UCR to track crime trends and measure program outcomes.

"I can tell you that these results have been a critical focus of this administration. In 2009, for the first time, a monthly preliminary crime occurrence rate dropped below 300 in one single month. However, in 2010 that achievement was met three times. That achievement has not been otherwise met in the last 16 years. I could not be more pleased with the assistance given by the community and the initiative exerted by everyone here to further that cause," Sheriff Furlong states. "Our primary responsibility is the safety of this town and it is quite apparent that we are achieving results."

For the year in whole, vandalism led all indicators with 633 incidents. While down five percent from 2009 and 19 percent from 2008, this category marks the most frequent report taken, the sheriff said. This offense is followed by: Simple assaults (582, down 1 percent) and thefts (499, down 10 percent.)

The department's overall calls for service continue to decline appropriately to crime data, the sheriff reports. Last year marked another decline in calls for service received, marking eight consecutive years. Since 2004, calls for service have declined from 2,150 per month to the latest figures, at around 1,500 per month.

In reviewing the types of calls for service the sheriff's office is most frequently responding to, the top three are Welfare Check (1,618) Abandoned Vehicles (1,064) and Suspicious Vehicles (1,022).

"This speaks well for the community as it displays concerned and vigilant neighbors," the sheriff said. "As I have spoken often, given the early opportunity, we can likely intervene and prevent many offenses from taking place."

For the upcoming year, the sheriff's administration has declared two crime prevention activities as critical: Warrant service and crime prevention programs. Over the past four years, the amount of warrants on hand at dispatch has climbed from 2,000 to more than 3,300, the sheriff reports. The administration's immediate goal is to reduce, by 33 percent, the amount of warrants by service. This week Furlong announced a major program designed to cut down on this, which includes posting warrants on the city's website.

Increased emphasis on community education is also essential. With reduced staffing levels, "it is to our advantage that we engage the widest community to be on alert and watch for suspicious activities. To this initiative, I am pleased with the reformatting of beat assignments, clearly a leading initiative showing positive results," Furlong said.

While gang activity has given strong indications of dramatic decline, the department still has insufficient data to make strong conclusions, Furlong said. This can be attributed to increased enforcement by both patrol deputies and an effective Special Enforcement tactics over the past two to three years, Furlong noted.

Continued aggressive enforcement and community education is critical, Furlong said, adding that the top criminal drug use in the area continues to be marijuana and methamphetamine. Heroin has risen steadily and alarmingly. Threat assessment reports give "strong indications that the I-80 and U.S. 95 highway systems are major contributing factors." In response, the administration has approved several initiatives proposed by deputies and SET to conduct multiple joint operations targeting the movement of drugs, Furlong said.

In conclusion, the administration asked department heads in December to provide recommended improvements and suggestions for 2011. These internal adjustments are being implemented and should result in several new effective and efficient internal processes, Furlong said. Among the changes, the department will implement new software for scheduling and reporting time worked.

"I am fully aware of the positive impact of this change, as well as it being a major change in the way we do day-to-day business. Staffing reductions and changes make this new program a critical factor," Furlong said.

He noted that crime analysis will be the focus this year. By targeting traffic and crime trends, it is the department's intention to place officers in the best areas to create positive results, the sheriff stated, noting that a study is already underway to compare the three-year trend of traffic accidents.

"By making better use of this information we hope to achieve accident reductions in those high-accident zones," he said. "Likewise, crime mapping in the beats allow for better coverage of our residences and businesses. Our goal: reduce crime and prevent the loss of life."