Sheriff: Reported crimes drop throughout Carson City

By Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong
Reported crimes in Carson City hit its lowest point during February since the Sheriff’s Office began collecting and analyzing the trends. There were 112 incidences of major crimes, such as homicide, rape, robbery, burglary and theft. There were 122 less severe crimes reported in the community for the same period. In total, the 234 reported crimes is 22 percent less than any monthly rate previously reported since collection began. The previous low for any month was 294 incidences.

While February is normally one of the lowest crime incidence months of the year, this one differed from others. Both major and minor reported offenses declined significantly and crimes being resolved were up by over 57 percent. These three key crime indicators combined suggests that the community is fighting back and having success. Total monthly crime occurrences dropped below 300 for the first time in October 2008. In 2010, this low was matched three times (February, September and November). February 2011 shattered those lows.

While local law enforcement, prosecution and the courts are often looked upon to reduce crime, other factors are likely more significant. In addition to public safety efforts, nationally recognized contributing factors to crime include size and density of the population, climate, youth concentration, economic status in the community, transportation, stability of the population, recreation and religious characteristics, and cooperation among overlapping jurisdictions. Now into it’s second year of operation, the regional gang enforcement unit exemplifies just one overlapping jurisdictional effort in cooperation between Carson City, Douglas County and the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office’s. This unit is funded by a grant award from the Office of Criminal Justice Assistance.

In a recent study of offenses by age groups, the Sheriff’s Office noted that our best progress (trend) has been witnessed among our youth under the age of 18. While we continue to have a low tolerance for juvenile misbehavior in this community, annual juvenile crime arrests have plummeted from over 1000 annually in 1997 to approximately 400 in 2010. Our kids get it and we as adults can learn from there cooperation. The age group struggling the most for the same period is our 18 to 24 year old adults.

Monthly reported crime reports are submitted to the Nevada Department of Public Safety and are used to determine annual crime rates for communities across the country. The Uniform Crime Reporting reports crime in Carson City peaked in 1995 at over 51 annual incidents per 1000 residents. The latest report published for 2009 puts the crime rate in Carson City at just 23 per 1000 residents. The rate for 2010 will not be available until June.

This is all good news as we weather through tough economic times in the community. In July 2010, the Sheriff’s Office, along with all other city government offices, were forced to implement serious budget cut-backs. But the resolve of community crime prevention efforts was not affected. Instead of cutting back on our efforts, innovative solutions to crime prevention have been implemented. One such move was to publish Carson City warrants and the Top Ten Most Wanted list on the city web site. Viewers to the web site jumped from a monthly average of approximately 2000 to over 9000 in just one month. Early indictors of success have been noted with increased arrests of offenders.

The efforts of the Sheriff’s Office will continue to evolve as we go through this and future years. The philosophy is simple. A community that is well informed is one that is best poised to make a difference. Our civic organizations, recreational activities, and focus groups such as Partnership Carson City, are the best tools in the box. Capitalizing on these good will efforts only serves to enhance the quality of life in Carson City.

In addition to groups seeking positive change, a major contributing crime prevention effort is the prompt reporting of curious or suspicious activities. Residents and business owners alike know best what is normal in their area. Reporting suspicions rapidly gets officers into the areas where the crime may be prevented. For years, suspicious activities or persons have rated in the top 10 reasons the Sheriff’s Office is summoned to an area.

The drop in crime during February gives us plenty of reason to celebrate. It also gives us an new mark (crime rate) to beat. I hope that others will join me in increasing our community crime prevention efforts by banding together and stomping out crime. If it doesn’t look right to you, it probably isn’t; Report It.

For more information on crime trends and ways to protect yourself, visit the Sheriff’s Office web site at www.CCSheriff.com.