Crime at highest level this decade

After a year of relative calm, crime rose to its highest level in McMinnville this decade, spurred on by economic woes and crime rings all combining to produce historically high crime numbers.

“What we mainly saw was a marked increase in petty crimes like theft while violent crime stayed about the same as usual,” said McMinnville Police Captain Bryan Denton of the 2005 city crime report. “We also saw an increase in areas we anticipated like gas drive-offs given the high prices for fuel this past year.”

According to the year-end report for 2005, a total of 1,617 offenses were reported in the city, up significantly from last year when 1,400 offenses were reported in what was the quietest year for crime this decade. There were 1,501 offenses in 2003.

Accounting for the lion’s share of the leap was an elevated number of thefts with 517 reported opposed to 397 last year and 486 during 2003. Gas drive-offs figured into the number with 67 last year opposed to 43 in 2004.

“With gas reaching well in excess of $3 a gallon after Katrina, we were seeing folks drive away without paying,” Denton said. “With gas that high, you could see thefts of $80 or more for a tank of gas.”

While thefts increased dramatically, most other crime areas saw only minor increases such in the area of burglaries where 124 were reported opposed to 106 the previous year and 156 in 2003. Forgery and theft jumped slightly to 65 from 57 the past two years.

On the upside of the crime report, violent crime was down slightly even though sex offenses saw their third straight year of increase. There were 27 sex crimes during 2005, up from 23 in 2004, and 17 in 2003. Meanwhile, the most common violent crime, assault, was down with 247 reported opposed to 284 the year before. More serious aggravated assaults were also down to 23 from 34 the year before. There were seven robberies in 2005, the same as the year before.

Arrests stayed a constant during 2005 with 1,064 incarcerated for various crimes, compared to 1,045 in 2004 and 1,005 in 2003. There were 131 juveniles arrested. Detectives cleared 601 cases by arrest or exceptional means during 2005.

The arrests included 127 drug arrests, down slightly from 150 in 2004. The drop comes in the wake of a stricter law governing the sales of ephedrine, a key component in the manufacture of methamphetamine, which has led to a drop in the number of meth labs found.