Annual Clearlake Police Department report shows drop in key crime numbers
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – For the second year in a row, the city of Clearlake has seen double-digit decreases in serious crime, and it’s also now seeing the lowest property crime numbers in 35 years.
Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White reported those figures and a variety of others as part of the annual police department report presented at the Feb. 20 Clearlake City Council meeting.
The report begins at the 8:09 mark in the video above.
White said the department’s mission is to enhance public safety by providing professional, trustworthy service in partnership with the community. “Our badges are a symbol of public trust.”
Accomplishments for the year include recruitment and retention, which allowed them to assign Det. Steve Hobb to investigations and Officer Mike Perreault to traffic enforcement on a full-time basis.
The agency’s big accomplishment, White said, is becoming a public safety answering point. The state government funded the transition and paid for a new 911 system. White said the system has redundancy and is connected to Mendocino and Lake counties so it can stay operational if backup help is needed.
He said it was a big project that took a lot of coordination, and it ended up requiring the replacement of the entire non-11 phone system, which affected city hall.
Technology upgrades included new Tasers, mapping, computers and significant radio updates, with the department also increasing its in-house training, he said.
The department has continued to increase its involvement in community events. “That's a passion of mine and something the staff has really embraced,” White said.
He said they’ve also pursued special enforcement operations in partnership with outside agencies that have been very successful. Those operations focus on different issues like quality of life, trespassing, transients, probation and parole.
A key focus of White’s report was crime statistics. Key numbers included:
– Overall incidents: Increased by 2 percent, or 390 incidents.
– Officer initiated incidents: Increased 41 percent, or 5,061 incidents. White attributed this to increased staffing and proficiency of officers.
– Arrests: 10 percent drop, down by 259.
– Reports: 18 percent reduction, down by 745 incidents. White said there was a crime decrease but the numbers also were affected by how Code Enforcement now does it reports in its own customized system.
– Traffic enforcement: Increased by 40 percent, or 1,350 cases. This is attributed to more officer time and increased traffic enforcement.
– Injury collision: 9 percent reduction, down by four incidents.
Response times also improved. White said priority one call response dropped from an average of 6 minutes and 44 seconds to 6 minutes and 37 seconds, which are within the target times. Priority two crime responses dropped from 13 minutes and 19 seconds to 11 minutes and 47 seconds, while priority three crimes went from 15 minutes and one second to 13 minutes and 37 seconds.
Part one crimes – which the US Department of Justice said include murder and nonnegligent homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, larceny-theft and arson – dropped by 13 percent, with White noting that last year they also had seen a double-digit decrease. There also was a 20 percent drop in property crime.
White said the part one crime total is at a 10-year low and the third-lowest since 1985, while violent crime is at a five-year low.
Property crime is the lowest since 1985, which White said is something they can all be proud of, especially in a community disproportionately impacted by violent and property crime.
“I believe that the fundamental duty of government, really, is to provide safety” and not just police but roads, he said.
“This is really good stuff,” he added.
White offered statistics on Code Enforcement, which is overseen by the Clearlake Police Department.
He said there were 559 property cases, an increase of 149. The city abated 289 vehicles, down 16.
There were 723 vegetation cases, up by 550, a “huge number,” said White. “It's quite the accomplishment from Code Enforcement.”
He said there were 15 demolitions, an increase of nine over the previous year. White said those cases take a long time and they work on them as quickly as they can.
White said the city is making a lot of progress with its Code Enforcement division.
Code Enforcement’s total caseload last year was about 1,700. White said cities much larger than Clearlake handle only a couple hundred more code enforcement cases on an annual basis than Clearlake. For comparison, White said the city of San Diego, which had more than 1.4 million residents, averages about 4,000 to 5,000 code enforcement cases annually.
Last year, there were 1,845 admin citations; 129 cannabis cases, an increase of four; and 204 parking citations, up by 195, White said.
Clearlake Animal Control had a 10-percent increase in intakes, up by 46. White said there were 56 adoptions, an increase of three. He said there were 214 dogs sent to rescues, an increase of 39.
They’ve also put a focus on licensing, with 769 licenses issued last year, up by 664. White said an ad hoc animal control committee felt the city needed to do more licensing enforcement, so they mailed out more than 1,000 notices.
White said there were 15 use of force cases, seven citizen complaints and 15 pursuits were reviewed.
“We're always trying to get better,” he said.
White said goals include crime reduction, training and development, and updated training manuals.
Another big project is an upgraded animal shelter, which is out to bid right now. “We believe that this is something the community will be proud of,” White said.
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