Statistics show crime rate continues to rise
Crime and calls for service both continued an upward trend during the most recent quarter according to statistics released recently by the McMinnville Police Department.
The second quarter numbers revealed an all-time high in the number of calls answered by police with 3,707 calls received during the three-month April, May and June period. The number was up by 500 from the first quarter of the year and up by over 1,000 calls from the second quarter of 2004 when police fielded 2,702 calls for service.
Reported offenses also went up with 430 reported this past quarter, up from 358 last quarter and up over 100 from the 318 reported during the second quarter of 2004. The rise in crime came with a rise in arrests as there were 297 arrests during the second quarter, up from 240 during the first quarter. However, the trend did not continue for juvenile arrests as there were 33 persons under 18 arrested as compared to 30 the first quarter.
As for what made up the crime surge, thefts went up most drastically with 135 reported, up from 106 last quarter and 87 last year. Burglaries also went up to 33 from 21 last quarter while forgeries went up to 13 from eight last quarter.
Violent crime also increased during the early summer months with 74 assaults reported, up three from last year’s second quarter. More serious aggravated assaults; however, more than doubled to 13 from last year’s total of five. There were 37 drug arrests compared to 50 last quarter.
In the meantime, citations continued to drop slightly from record numbers last year with 1,402 citations issued compared to 1,612 last year. Most citations were for speeding with 539 tickets issued by police. Driving without insurance also brought 268 citations. There were 39 people arrested for DUI, almost exactly double the number from the first quarter. The same was true for public intoxication arrests, with 29 this quarter compared to 12 last quarter. The biggest drop reflected on the report was in the area of shoplifting where 16 were reported, a number more than half as low as last year when 38 were reported.