Crime rate at its lowest so far this decade
Crime was down during 2004, making it the quietest year of the current decade in McMinnville.
A total of 1,400 offenses were reported to city police during 2004, a mark down by 101 from last year. Contributing to the drop in crime was a reduction, almost completely across the board, in the most common crimes.
The drop included a sharp decrease in thefts, with 397 reported during 2004, compared to 486 in 2003, and 465 in 2002. The number included 43 gas drive-offs, a number lower than expected by police given the fact gasoline hit record highs over the past year.
In addition to being a misdemeanor offense, punishable by fine and potential jail time, the crime of gas theft also carries a loss of driving privileges, something police say may have contributed to the lower drive-off rate.
Burglaries, both home and auto, fell significantly during 2004, with 106 reported, compared to 156 in 2003, and 155 in 2002. Fraud and forgery, which has increased in recent years, stayed unchanged with 57 cases reported in 2004.
While property crime fell, violent crime rose especially in the area of assaults with 284 cases compared to 242 in 2003. More serious aggravated assaults were also up with 34 reported as opposed to 25 in 2003.
Sex crimes also took a jump from 17 in 2003 to 23 during 2004. Cases of child neglect and abuse fell from 34 to 21. Robberies took a slight dip from eight to seven.
The overall arrest rate was up with 1,045 arrests made in 2004 as compared to 1,005 in 2003. The number was lower than 2002, which had 1,100 arrests. Spurring on the higher arrests was a higher number of drug busts as 150 narcotics cases were made during 2004, compared to 113 the year before. In addition to drugs, detectives had a higher clearance rate, clearing 602 cases, compared to 499 the year before.
Calls for service dropped slightly during 2004 with 12,520 compared to 12,766 in 2003. The average time it took for police to respond to a call was up slightly to four minutes, 11 seconds.
Police had feared the ongoing downtown construction might have significantly slowed response times due to detours. However, the re-routing did not have a major effect on response times.
As normal, Fridays were the busiest days for police as they fielded an average of 39 calls on Fridays. Police answered an average of 34 calls per day.