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Crime reports were down substantially for the county in 2011 but the Pratt County Sheriff’s office kept busy with 3,898 calls for service during the year.
The sheriff’s office handled 385 criminal reports compared to 546 in 2010. Burglary, domestic violence, DUI, motor vehicle theft (none) and stolen property were all down from the previous year.
Burglary went down to 12 from 23 cases while domestic violence was at nine, a drop from 23 from a year ago.
No specific changes occurred within the county to account for the changes. Crime numbers are like an ocean, they roll in and they roll out, said Pratt County Sheriff Vernon Chinn.
Stolen property was almost identical with 65 reports, a change of just one from the previous year.
The only two criminal areas that showed increase were six sexual offenses, an increase of four, and 12 registered offender violations, an increase of five. Again, no particular reason for the changes is clear, it’s just the way the numbers fell.
“Looking at the criminal statistics, Pratt County is an extremely safe place to live,” Chinn said. “We simply don’t have the person and serious crimes other parts of the country do.”
The total calls for service was 500 above the 2010 level. The sheriff’s office averaged 10 calls a day, every day for the year. Almost half those calls, 1,995, were for traffic complaints, Chinn said.
The cell phone has greatly increased the number of traffic complaints. However the facts are that about 95 percent of the time when sheriff’s officers investigate a called in complaint, the vehicle in question is never found.
Most often when the vehicle is located they are not committing a violation and the office can’t stop them. When times the driver complaining has not seen what really happened.
Sheriff’s officers made 1,533 traffic stops in 2011 and nearly everyone was made after the office saw the violation and not from a called in complaint.
Traffic complaints and the 159 calls for cattle out cost the taxpayers $33,000.
Officers frequently hear “why aren’t you getting a real criminal instead of messing with me,” during traffic stops.
“Actually an aggressive traffic officer is getting the real criminal,” Chinn said. “I believe this is a priority for traffic officers to be addressing.”
According to 2011 statistics, traffic caused 100 percent of the injuries and deaths to the citizens in the county. Seven people were killed in Pratt County due to traffic accidents and in each one of those accidents a state statute was violated, Chinn said.
Crime reports were down substantially for the county in 2011 but the Pratt County Sheriff’s office kept busy with 3,898 calls for service during the year.
The sheriff’s office handled 385 criminal reports compared to 546 in 2010. Burglary, domestic violence, DUI, motor vehicle theft (none) and stolen property were all down from the previous year.
Burglary went down to 12 from 23 cases while domestic violence was at nine, a drop from 23 from a year ago.
No specific changes occurred within the county to account for the changes. Crime numbers are like an ocean, they roll in and they roll out, said Pratt County Sheriff Vernon Chinn.
Stolen property was almost identical with 65 reports, a change of just one from the previous year.
The only two criminal areas that showed increase were six sexual offenses, an increase of four, and 12 registered offender violations, an increase of five. Again, no particular reason for the changes is clear, it’s just the way the numbers fell.
“Looking at the criminal statistics, Pratt County is an extremely safe place to live,” Chinn said. “We simply don’t have the person and serious crimes other parts of the country do.”
The total calls for service was 500 above the 2010 level. The sheriff’s office averaged 10 calls a day, every day for the year. Almost half those calls, 1,995, were for traffic complaints, Chinn said.
The cell phone has greatly increased the number of traffic complaints. However the facts are that about 95 percent of the time when sheriff’s officers investigate a called in complaint, the vehicle in question is never found.
Most often when the vehicle is located they are not committing a violation and the office can’t stop them. When times the driver complaining has not seen what really happened.
Sheriff’s officers made 1,533 traffic stops in 2011 and nearly everyone was made after the office saw the violation and not from a called in complaint.
Traffic complaints and the 159 calls for cattle out cost the taxpayers $33,000.
Officers frequently hear “why aren’t you getting a real criminal instead of messing with me,” during traffic stops.
“Actually an aggressive traffic officer is getting the real criminal,” Chinn said. “I believe this is a priority for traffic officers to be addressing.”
According to 2011 statistics, traffic caused 100 percent of the injuries and deaths to the citizens in the county. Seven people were killed in Pratt County due to traffic accidents and in each one of those accidents a state statute was violated, Chinn said.
Those seven fatalities tied the county record for the most fatalities in one year that also happened in 2004. Of those seven fatalities, five were alcohol related and only one was wearing a seatbelt.
Many drivers say it is their business if they wear a seat belt but when a person is killed or injured it becomes the sheriff’s office business, Chinn said.
Deer accidents continue to be a problem with 66 in the county but that is down from 79 the year before. Vehicle accidents jumped to 83, including the six accidents that resulted in seven fatalities, up from 65 accidents in 2010.
In total sheriff’s officers traveled 115,000 miles on patrol and 13,373 transporting prisoners for a total of 128,373 miles, equal to traveling around the world at the equator five times.
Sheriff’s officers made 276 arrests, booked 817 people into jail, served 1,700 civil papers and made a substantial contribution to the county general fund.
During 2011 the sheriff’s office collected over $93,000 in prisoner care, work release, booking fees, civil process and other factors and put it back into the general fund. On top of that sheriff’s officers helped the county treasurer collect over $66,000 in delinquent taxes that also went into the general fund.
Chinn credits the people in the community with helping make the community a safe place to live. They are very supportive of the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s officers work hard to deter crime and intercept those committing crimes.
“I am very proud of the officers that work for the Pratt County Sheriff’s Office,” Chinn said.
