Domestic violence, theft top county's criminal activity
Lead Summary
By
-
Domestic violence and theft top the list of criminal charges in Highland County, according to year-end reports for 2010 released this week by the Highland County Sheriff's Office.
Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward said those figures, along with an increasing number of sheriff sales, indicates that the county is still operating in a struggling economy.
"As we reported last year, with the budget cuts we have suffered over the last couple of years, we're still doing more with less," Ward said. "We're trying to answer the calls and respond to the calls and investigate the crime that occurs in Highland County the best we can. We have a lot of dedicated staff. In most of the areas, I had hoped the numbers would go down, but unfortunately, we're not seeing that."
There were 379 sheriff sales in 2010, up from 320 in 2009, 286 in 2008, 297 in 2007, 289 in 2006 and 250 in 2005. There were 371 new sheriff sales in 2010, 343 in 2009, 302 in 2008, 281 in 2007, 366 in 2006 and 305 in 2005.
Ward said the sales figures reflect the completed sales, and that the sheriff sales could have started in a previous year and only been completed in a current year. That means the figures will be different from the foreclosures reported in Highland County Common Pleas Court.
According to the report, of 373 sheriff sales processed in 2010, 132 cases were withdrawn by the courts prior to sale; 210 cases were purchased by plaintiffs for a total of $10,918,411. There were 22 cases that were purchased by third-party buyers for a total of $1,178,500. Nine of the cases were "no bidders" of "no sale." The total cost of the sales for 2010 was $12,096,911.
"Hopefully, those filings will go down for what we report next year," Ward said. "Of course, those are all economy-related numbers."
The Highland County Sheriff's Office answered 48,437 calls in 2010, and 19,722 were calls to 911. Those numbers are up from 47,313 and 18,414 in 2009, respectively. Ward said the increase in the number of calls does not necessarily indicate an increase in criminal activity, because those calls could be tip lines, or calling for weather-related incidents. He pointed to the spike in 2004 numbers when calls jumped to 61,436 during the ice storm, up from 52,378 in 2003. Calls dropped to $47,290 in 2005.
"But there are a lot of what I would call economy-related calls and crimes," Ward said. "Those calls are still way higher than what we would like, or hoped for, The domestic violence, the alcohol and drug related activity, the theft. The price of scrap metal and precious metal has been up all in all of 2010. We've seen a big rise in crime in association with the theft of metals."
There were 2,542 total arrests in 2010, which is up from 2,357. However, the number is down from 2008, when there were 3,143 arrests.
There were 117 criminal arrests for charges of domestic violence, the highest crime in Highland County. Theft followed with 113 arrests. There were 72 arrests on charges of criminal trespassing, 54 charges of pseudoephedrine purchase of over 9 grams, 50 charges of passing bad checks, 47 charges of assault, 43 charges of receiving stolen property, 37 charges of disorderly conduct, 33 charges of possession of drug paraphernalia, and 20 charges of illegal assembly of chemicals to manufacture drugs.
Under traffic incidents, there were 71 arrests that resulted from driving under suspension, 34 on charges of driving under the influence, and 62 on charges of speed.
While Ward said the incidents were dispersed over Highland County, some ares had a higher concentration of felony incidents.
Ward said that in most cases, the higher areas of population resulted in more criminal incidents.
"We try to provide the best services we can to every corner of the county," Ward said. "Our call load is, again, the highest in Paint Township, and criminal arrests are a direct result of that call load. We spend a lot of time in Paint Township, and some townships have very little crime, and where there are higher populations are where the higher crime rates occur. Salem Township's population is fairly low, and consists of a lot of farmers and there is a lot of land coverage. So crime is fairly low in a township like Salem. We have 2,000 miles of roadway to cover, and try to do our best to give coverage throughout the county, but we spend quite a bit of time in a few particular townships."
Liberty Township had the most arrests at 315, with 45 felony arrests. Paint Township followed with 299, and 68 felony arrests. Fairfield Township had 157 arrests, and 26 felony arrests. Madison Township had 144 arrests, with 71 felony arrests.
The lowest was Salem Township with nine arrests, and three felonies. Washington Township had 28 arrests with three felonies.
However, not all of the statistics showed negative trends.
Fatal traffic crashes were down in 2010, with five in Highland County. That is a 50 percent decrease since 2005 and 2006 when there were 10 in each year. There were eight fatal crashes in 2009, nine in 2008 and seven in 2007.
"There's a certain amount of luck involved," Ward said. "But law enforcement activity, hopefully, helps reduce those numbers, and a lot can be attributed to the activity Highway Patrol. It's a team effort in law enforcement."
There was a total of 343 crashes in 2010, down from 416 in 2009 and 624 in 2008.
Ward said that with lower gas prices in 2010, road patrols were able to increase the amount of time spent out on Highland County's roads.
Patrol mileage was 361,468, up from 312,877 in 2009, but still down from 462,403 in 2008.
"Last year, especially in the middle of the year, gas was down to the $2.50 range, and we did increase our patrol miles," Ward said. "Based on our budget numbers and what we have to work with, I don't know what this year's numbers are going to show."
Ward told commissioners at last week's board meeting that with higher fuel prices and an aging fleet for patrol cars, the HCSO may look at a reduction in patrol miles this year.
Additionally, in the HCSO K9 unit, the dog was able to track 10 suspects in 10 incidents, according to the report.
"Dep. Craig Seaman is our dog handler and he does a wonderful job," Ward said. "We've got a good dog, a well-trained dog and they run assistance to a lot of agencies. A dog is only as good as his handler, and Dep. Seaman is a very good handler, very dedicated, and does us, as well as for all county law enforcement, a very good job."
Ward said his entire staff consistently rises to the challenges they are presented with, despite the increase in calls, and continued limited resources.
"You can't do the job we do without the dedicated staff that we have," Ward said. "Everyone from the civil division to the communications divisions that disseminates the calls to the patrol, and the bigger crimes that get investigated by the detectives, and the jail divisions. Everyone works hard. In the jail division, we had to cut down on our number of inmates because of layoffs. We have 72 beds, but we tried to cap that at 60 (inmates).
"The average was well over 60 every day. Our staff- to-inmate ratio is much less than it has been, because of the layoffs. We couldn't do the job we do, and function at the level we do with the personnel we have. They are good people, and they are dedicated to this community."[[In-content Ad]]
Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward said those figures, along with an increasing number of sheriff sales, indicates that the county is still operating in a struggling economy.
"As we reported last year, with the budget cuts we have suffered over the last couple of years, we're still doing more with less," Ward said. "We're trying to answer the calls and respond to the calls and investigate the crime that occurs in Highland County the best we can. We have a lot of dedicated staff. In most of the areas, I had hoped the numbers would go down, but unfortunately, we're not seeing that."
There were 379 sheriff sales in 2010, up from 320 in 2009, 286 in 2008, 297 in 2007, 289 in 2006 and 250 in 2005. There were 371 new sheriff sales in 2010, 343 in 2009, 302 in 2008, 281 in 2007, 366 in 2006 and 305 in 2005.
Ward said the sales figures reflect the completed sales, and that the sheriff sales could have started in a previous year and only been completed in a current year. That means the figures will be different from the foreclosures reported in Highland County Common Pleas Court.
According to the report, of 373 sheriff sales processed in 2010, 132 cases were withdrawn by the courts prior to sale; 210 cases were purchased by plaintiffs for a total of $10,918,411. There were 22 cases that were purchased by third-party buyers for a total of $1,178,500. Nine of the cases were "no bidders" of "no sale." The total cost of the sales for 2010 was $12,096,911.
"Hopefully, those filings will go down for what we report next year," Ward said. "Of course, those are all economy-related numbers."
The Highland County Sheriff's Office answered 48,437 calls in 2010, and 19,722 were calls to 911. Those numbers are up from 47,313 and 18,414 in 2009, respectively. Ward said the increase in the number of calls does not necessarily indicate an increase in criminal activity, because those calls could be tip lines, or calling for weather-related incidents. He pointed to the spike in 2004 numbers when calls jumped to 61,436 during the ice storm, up from 52,378 in 2003. Calls dropped to $47,290 in 2005.
"But there are a lot of what I would call economy-related calls and crimes," Ward said. "Those calls are still way higher than what we would like, or hoped for, The domestic violence, the alcohol and drug related activity, the theft. The price of scrap metal and precious metal has been up all in all of 2010. We've seen a big rise in crime in association with the theft of metals."
There were 2,542 total arrests in 2010, which is up from 2,357. However, the number is down from 2008, when there were 3,143 arrests.
There were 117 criminal arrests for charges of domestic violence, the highest crime in Highland County. Theft followed with 113 arrests. There were 72 arrests on charges of criminal trespassing, 54 charges of pseudoephedrine purchase of over 9 grams, 50 charges of passing bad checks, 47 charges of assault, 43 charges of receiving stolen property, 37 charges of disorderly conduct, 33 charges of possession of drug paraphernalia, and 20 charges of illegal assembly of chemicals to manufacture drugs.
Under traffic incidents, there were 71 arrests that resulted from driving under suspension, 34 on charges of driving under the influence, and 62 on charges of speed.
While Ward said the incidents were dispersed over Highland County, some ares had a higher concentration of felony incidents.
Ward said that in most cases, the higher areas of population resulted in more criminal incidents.
"We try to provide the best services we can to every corner of the county," Ward said. "Our call load is, again, the highest in Paint Township, and criminal arrests are a direct result of that call load. We spend a lot of time in Paint Township, and some townships have very little crime, and where there are higher populations are where the higher crime rates occur. Salem Township's population is fairly low, and consists of a lot of farmers and there is a lot of land coverage. So crime is fairly low in a township like Salem. We have 2,000 miles of roadway to cover, and try to do our best to give coverage throughout the county, but we spend quite a bit of time in a few particular townships."
Liberty Township had the most arrests at 315, with 45 felony arrests. Paint Township followed with 299, and 68 felony arrests. Fairfield Township had 157 arrests, and 26 felony arrests. Madison Township had 144 arrests, with 71 felony arrests.
The lowest was Salem Township with nine arrests, and three felonies. Washington Township had 28 arrests with three felonies.
However, not all of the statistics showed negative trends.
Fatal traffic crashes were down in 2010, with five in Highland County. That is a 50 percent decrease since 2005 and 2006 when there were 10 in each year. There were eight fatal crashes in 2009, nine in 2008 and seven in 2007.
"There's a certain amount of luck involved," Ward said. "But law enforcement activity, hopefully, helps reduce those numbers, and a lot can be attributed to the activity Highway Patrol. It's a team effort in law enforcement."
There was a total of 343 crashes in 2010, down from 416 in 2009 and 624 in 2008.
Ward said that with lower gas prices in 2010, road patrols were able to increase the amount of time spent out on Highland County's roads.
Patrol mileage was 361,468, up from 312,877 in 2009, but still down from 462,403 in 2008.
"Last year, especially in the middle of the year, gas was down to the $2.50 range, and we did increase our patrol miles," Ward said. "Based on our budget numbers and what we have to work with, I don't know what this year's numbers are going to show."
Ward told commissioners at last week's board meeting that with higher fuel prices and an aging fleet for patrol cars, the HCSO may look at a reduction in patrol miles this year.
Additionally, in the HCSO K9 unit, the dog was able to track 10 suspects in 10 incidents, according to the report.
"Dep. Craig Seaman is our dog handler and he does a wonderful job," Ward said. "We've got a good dog, a well-trained dog and they run assistance to a lot of agencies. A dog is only as good as his handler, and Dep. Seaman is a very good handler, very dedicated, and does us, as well as for all county law enforcement, a very good job."
Ward said his entire staff consistently rises to the challenges they are presented with, despite the increase in calls, and continued limited resources.
"You can't do the job we do without the dedicated staff that we have," Ward said. "Everyone from the civil division to the communications divisions that disseminates the calls to the patrol, and the bigger crimes that get investigated by the detectives, and the jail divisions. Everyone works hard. In the jail division, we had to cut down on our number of inmates because of layoffs. We have 72 beds, but we tried to cap that at 60 (inmates).
"The average was well over 60 every day. Our staff- to-inmate ratio is much less than it has been, because of the layoffs. We couldn't do the job we do, and function at the level we do with the personnel we have. They are good people, and they are dedicated to this community."[[In-content Ad]]