If you live in the city of Mill Creek, odds are you will not become a victim of violent crime. Instead, you’re more likely to become a victim of a property crime.
Property crimes, such as burglary, auto theft and vandalism, showed the biggest increase from 2003 to 2004, according to statistics compiled by the Mill Creek Police Department and released last week. In all three categories, the number of reports were six-year highs.
Overall, the number of incidents in most categories tracked by the police department showed increases from 2003 to 2004, even though the number of calls of service dropped slightly during the two-year period.
That, however, has provided the department with some new challenges. The report says that the increasing complexity of crimes and resulting investigative work “are impacting the level of proactive law enforcement that officers are able to provide.”
Part of that problem has been the rise of various Internet-based fraud, police chief Bob Crannell said.The number of identity theft, fraud and forgery cases all reached their highest levels in 2004. The department, however, did not begin tracking those crimes until 2001.
“For one thing, Internet records are very hard to track,” Crannell said. “They involve numerous people – service providers, banks, oftentimes multiple victims, and by the end of the day you’ve used up a lot of time.”
Burglaries showed the largest increase in the last year, with the number of reported incidents more than doubling from 2003 to 2004.
Vandalism also showed significant increases.
In terms of growth, one of the fastest growing crimes in Mill Creek is auto theft, with the number of cases more than tripling in the last three years, and increasing more than four-fold since 1999.
The numbers continued to rise despite the fact Mill Creek police installed Lo-Jack detectors in four of its patrol cars.
“The issue is Lo-Jack is expensive,” Crannell said. “If you’ve got a (luxury car), you’re going to do that, but the general public probably will not make that investment.”
Also showing significant increases in 2004 were the number of property theft incidents, with 437 – more than one per day, on average – taking place in the city last year. A similar trend took place at Jackson High School, with the number of thefts there showing a significant increase from 2003 to 2004 (from 54 incidents to 79).
In terms of violent crime, statistics remained consistent from 2003 to 2004. The number of assault cases dropped by one during that period, and sex crime incidents also declined. Robberies, however, rose by one to five for 2004, a number last reached in 1999. No homicides, however, took place in Mill Creek for the 18th consecutive year.
The most common illegal drugs local police are coming across are marijuana and methamphetamines. The number of grams of marijuana confiscated by officers more than doubled from 2003 and 2004, and the number of grams of meth showed a major increase, from two grams in 2003 to 45 grams last year.
“It’s a countywide problem; it’s a statewide problem,” Crannell said. “Right now meth is the drug of choice. It’s cheap. It’s like crack was four or five years ago.”
Two areas where police activity declined in 2004 were in animal control incidents and auto accidents. Police responded to 39 animal complaints and 211 accidents, both down from 2003 (52 and 265, respectively).
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
