ShawneeDispatch.com

In a mostly average year for crime rates, Shawnee saw a significant reduction in aggravated assaults and car thefts in 2009.

The Shawnee Police Department recently released its annual report on crimes in 2009, with no large increases in numbers compared to the past five years, though there were a few interesting decreases.

One was car thefts — 101 were logged in the city in 2009, compared to 140 in 2008 and 192 in 2007. Capt. Bill Hisle, public information officer, said the reduction was surprising, but he could only hope it meant that residents were taking police warnings about leaving running cars unattended seriously.

“It just seems like we get a lot of auto thefts; in the past month, we had several,” he said. “I guess I’d hope that people are starting to realize they shouldn’t leave their car running outside of their house or outside the QuikTrip.”

Another reduction in crime came in the number of aggravated assaults reported, resulting in a five-year low. There were 51 logged last year, compared to 73 in 2007 and 58 in 2008. The previous low had been 53 in 2005.

Other numbers hovered around the average for the past few years. The department had 26 robberies, compared to 15 in 2008 and 25 in 2007. There were 235 DUIs, which was closer too the average 230 a year this decade, though there was a low of 211 in 2008 and a high of 317 in 2007.

There was one homicide investigation in 2009, compared to three in 2008 and zero in 2007. There were 18 reports of rape, slightly higher than in recent years — 14 in 2008, 11 in 2007 and 17 in 2006. In all the 2009 cases, the victims knew their assailants.

Arson reports continued to be a bit higher, 22 last year compared to 25 in 2008, 18 in 2007 and 13 in 2006. As in 2008, Hisle said the higher number was mostly due to an increase in teenage pranks, such as putting explosives in mailboxes.

“That seems to be kind of an age-related deal; they view it as entertainment rather than something serious,” he said.

Traffic tickets issued in 2009 rose slightly to 11,554 from 10,711 the previous year. The department issued 15,260 traffic tickets in 2007, and the previous five-year low had been 13,582 in 2005.

With fewer open positions in the department and more officers available for patrolling traffic, Hisle said he hoped the numbers would continue to rise to more normal levels.

“We’re still down some officers, but they’re coming back a little bit,” Hisle said. “The year before, we were down several traffic officers for an extended period of time, and getting those people back probably made a difference.”

The department had three officers recently graduate from the academy who are now in the field training program, Hisle said, so more open positions would be filled.

In the city’s effort to save money, in 2008 the department greatly increased its instructor hours for in-house training to 952 from just 493 in 2007. Those hours were reduced slightly last year to 605.

Hisle said that the decrease is partially because the department had several advanced traffic classes in 2008, but another reason is the department is becoming even more efficient.

“We continue to massage the schedule to try to get as many people trained at the same time as possible,” he said.

Other 2009 crime statistics on the department’s annual report included:

• 203 burglaries.

• 868 larceny/thefts.

• 1,297 arrests for Part I and Part II offenses.

• 629 traffic accidents, including 120 injury accidents and two fatal accidents.

• 23,573 calls for service.

• 21,672 911 calls, of which 14,124 came from cell phones.

• 1,226 cases assigned.

• 323 parking citations and 157 warning tickets.

• 561 warrants served.

• 110 child restraint installations.

• 147 animal control arrests.

• 315 K-9 tracks and drug searches in the city, and 38 performed for outside agencies.

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