SOUTH PRECINCT- Burglaries Down for First Half of 2011

Deputy Dan Johnson recently briefed the South Precinct Partnership Committee on the crime statistics for the first half of 2011.

The precincts concentrate their efforts on the "Big Two" crimes that affect the most people- burglaries and car thefts. You are more likely to be a victim of a burglary or a car theft than you are of an assault or a homicide.

The Sheriff’s Office utilizes two teams to apprehend burglars and car thieves:

            1. BAT- Burglary Abatement Teams concentrate their efforts on apprehending burglars.

            2. SNOCAT- The Snohomish County Auto Theft Task Force, a multijurisdictional entity that includes the Sheriff’s Office, Washington State Patrol, and other local participating police agencies, attempts to catch car thieves.

The statistics for the first six months of 2011 shows a decrease in reported burglaries of 18% over the same period in 2010. The numbers for burglaries are:

2010- 546        2011- 451

Deputy Johnson attributed this decrease in part by the information that he and Deputy Will Ter-Veen have been receiving from Neighborhood Watches. Deputy Johnson emphasized that they look at every tip. They may not always acknowledge receipt, but they do appreciate the information. He encourages everyone to keep passing the information no matter how small or insignificant that you might think it is.

Calls for service are also down for the first half of the year. Calls for service includes all calls that the Sheriff’s Office receives concerning burglaries, car thefts/car prowls, assaults, thefts, etc. The numbers for calls for service are:

2010- 60,842   2011- 57,250

Car thefts did not show much of a change over the first six months:

2010- 219        2011- 216

While car thefts have been reduced over the past few years due to the efforts of SNOCAT and tougher state car theft laws, this may be an area that deserves additional attention at the Neighborhood Watch level.

You might remind your neighbors:

1.      Take their keys with them and lock their car.
2.      Park in well lighted areas.
3.      Don’t leave their cars running unattended.

For more information on preventing car theft, go to this link for the Sheriff’s Auto Theft Tip Sheet:

http://sheriff.snoco.org/Documents/Auto%20Theft.pdf