Drug offenses lead crime stats in Payette County
Sunday, July 6, 2008 5:47 PM PDT
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| A law enforcement vehicle is one of many parked in front of downtown businesses in Payette Thursday afternoon. According to the Idaho State Police 2007 Agency Crime Report statistics, the number of offenses reported in Payette County, especially drug offenses, has increased from 2006 to 2007, but local law enforcement officials see some of those increased numbers as positive. |
JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
PAYETTE - Drug and drug equipment offenses topped the crimes Payette County law enforcement officers dealt with in 2007, according to statistics in the recently released Idaho State Police 2007 Agency Crime Report.
Overall, the Payette County Sheriff’s Office, Payette Police Department and Fruitland Police Department handled a combined 382 drug and drug equipment charges in 2007, while larceny and simple assault offenses followed suit.
According to the report, all but the Payette Police Department showed an increase in overall offenses reported to the state. The state report shows PPD, however, had 360 total offenses for the year, a dramatic drop of 30.6 percent from 2006.
While the number of police reports Payette officers have handled this year make Payette Police Chief Mark Clark question how the 2007 statistics were compiled, overall, he said he believes high police presence and seasoned police officers have made a difference in the city.
“Well, you know, our actual reports show our case loads to be pretty high, averaging 320 to 350 reportable cases a month,” he said of this year’s activity. “That’s what we’ve been averaging the past few months. (ISP’s) statistics, there’s a lot of things that contribute to those numbers.”
Clark said the police department has been operating with a full crew and putting out full patrols on the streets, who work hard, each day.
“Just having the officers on the street is a major deterrent, and it helps them reduce those crimes,” he said. “The other thing I attribute that to is most of the officers out there, they are seasoned officers, they know people, know the jurisdiction, and that goes to preventing crime and solving crime.”
In addition, Clark said, for the past few years, the police department has been able to put an officer full-time on the regional High Desert Task Force.
“We’ve already proven that the task force is a major deterrent in drug crimes. They’re a very active team,” he said. “Any time we can man that position full-time, we also see a reduction in numbers.”
Payette County Sheriff Chad Huff, however, said he views the increased number of drug offenses his office has handled as an example of “proactive” law enforcement because most of the offenses reported were discovered by officers doing routine police work, such as making a traffic stop, or purchasing drugs from sellers. Those kinds of drug offenses lead to the highest number of arrests and case clearances.
For example, in 2007, PCSO reported 87 drug/narcotics and 93 drug equipment offenses. Of the drug/narcotic offenses, 81 were cleared. Of the drug equipment offenses, 89 were cleared.
“It’s progressive police work,” Huff said.
Huff said he doesn’t think the statistics indicate that crime is going up or down in an area.
“It just means more of them are being reported to the state,” he said, which again is an example of “progressive police work.”
Nor, Huff said, do the 328 more serious “group A” offenses, which include drugs, drug equipment, larceny and assault, mean 328 different incidents took place. He said many of those offenses resulted from the same calls.
In Fruitland, drug/narcotics violations made a big jump reported by the Fruitland Police Department, up from 48 in 2006 to 72 in 2007. Simple assault, however, tallied the highest number of offenses reported with 107. Overall, the department saw a 6.5 percent increase in offenses reported from 2006 to 2007, up from 417 to 444.
Fruitland Police Department Capt. J.D. Huff said it is no surprise to him drug violations increased, and he anticipates an increase in those offenses reported in the future. He said he also anticipates the number of arrests and case clearances to increase as well because the police department should soon return to full staff.
Huff said when any law enforcement agency decreases in staff numbers, the numbers of “officer-initiated type scenarios” are going to decrease.
As it is, Huff said, officers can encounter illegal drugs, especially methamphetamine in many daily encounters with people, from traffic stops to welfare checks on children.
“Methamphetamine is a plague of our society, and it affects every socioeconomic class, so the circumstances of where you’re going to find that, it spans wide areas because it’s infiltrated every class, and it’s highly addictive and easy to get, from what I understand,” J.D. Huff said.
Like his counterparts, he said the High Desert Task Force has made a tremendous difference in the area. In the future, however, he believes states are going to have to examine the idea of investing more funds in rehabilitation for drug offenders.
The entire 2007 Agency Crime Report can be accessed on the ISP’s Web site: www.isp.state.id.us.
