Prisoner transport miles were down but burglaries were up for the Pratt County Sheriff’s Office for 2009.
Overall, total crimes were down six percent from 689 to 728 but burglaries tripled going from eight in 2008 to 23 in 2009. The increase in burglaries is related to the economy, said Pratt County Sheriff Vernon Chinn.
“As the economy worsens, crime will increase,” Chinn said. “There is a certain group that won’t work and will take from those of us who do,”
The number of miles for transporting prisoners was the lowest it has been since Chinn took office. Officers only traveled 11,000 miles transporting prisoners with the bulk of that coming from trips between Pratt and Hutchinson for the Bob Johnson Juvenile Detention Center or between Pratt and the Larned State Hospital.
Only one out of state trip was made and that was to Arkansas.
“It was a very unusual travel year for prisoners,” Chinn said.
While prisoner trip miles were down for the department, total miles traveled for patrols, law enforcement training and all other mileage were approximately 250,000 miles. That is equivalent to driving all the way around earth 10 times.
While burglaries were on the rise, the number of DUIs showed a significant decrease with just 14 in 2009 compared with 32 in 2008 for a drop of nearly 50 percent.
The total number of accidents worked showed a small decrease from 140 in 2008 to 133 in 2009. Exactly why the number of accidents is down but Chinn hopes part of it is due to the aggressive patrol efforts of his office and the Kansas Highway Patrol.
Deer accidents remain as the major cause of over half the accidents in the county with 71 accidents.
Also showing a decrease was the number of assault and battery cases the dropped from 12 in 2008 to just 8 in 2009.
Unfortunately, other crimes besides burglaries showed increases. Domestic violence had a slight gain from 11 in 2008 to 16 in 2009. Drug related cases also had a slight increase from 10 to 13. Sex offenses increased just one with a move from three in 2008 to four in 2009.
Officers were busy with warrants in 2009. Officers worked 158 warrants in 2009, an increase from 140 in 2008. Officers were also busy serving 2,500 civil papers and that was about average for the department, Chinn said.
That averages out to almost seven papers served every day of the year.
In the jail, 717 inmates were booked and that was a decrease from 2008 with 745.
The sheriff’s office was able to return a substantial amount of money to the county from funds received for housing inmates from other counties, booking fees, civil process fees, registered offender fees and other fees.
All together, the sheriff’s office returned approximately $126,000 to the county coffers.
Sheriff’s deputies traveled many thousands of miles on regular county patrols and 2009 was an injury and accident free year for Sheriff’s employees.
Chinn was pleased with the efforts of his officers and employees for 2009.
“I applaud my staff and their commitment to Pratt County. The Pratt County Sheriff’s Office also greatly appreciates the local support and cooperation we get from our citizens,” Chinn said.
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Prisoner transport miles were down but burglaries were up for the Pratt County Sheriff’s Office for 2009.
Overall, total crimes were down six percent from 689 to 728 but burglaries tripled going from eight in 2008 to 23 in 2009. The increase in burglaries is related to the economy, said Pratt County Sheriff Vernon Chinn.
“As the economy worsens, crime will increase,” Chinn said. “There is a certain group that won’t work and will take from those of us who do,”
The number of miles for transporting prisoners was the lowest it has been since Chinn took office. Officers only traveled 11,000 miles transporting prisoners with the bulk of that coming from trips between Pratt and Hutchinson for the Bob Johnson Juvenile Detention Center or between Pratt and the Larned State Hospital.
Only one out of state trip was made and that was to Arkansas.
“It was a very unusual travel year for prisoners,” Chinn said.
While prisoner trip miles were down for the department, total miles traveled for patrols, law enforcement training and all other mileage were approximately 250,000 miles. That is equivalent to driving all the way around earth 10 times.
While burglaries were on the rise, the number of DUIs showed a significant decrease with just 14 in 2009 compared with 32 in 2008 for a drop of nearly 50 percent.
The total number of accidents worked showed a small decrease from 140 in 2008 to 133 in 2009. Exactly why the number of accidents is down but Chinn hopes part of it is due to the aggressive patrol efforts of his office and the Kansas Highway Patrol.
Deer accidents remain as the major cause of over half the accidents in the county with 71 accidents.
Also showing a decrease was the number of assault and battery cases the dropped from 12 in 2008 to just 8 in 2009.
Unfortunately, other crimes besides burglaries showed increases. Domestic violence had a slight gain from 11 in 2008 to 16 in 2009. Drug related cases also had a slight increase from 10 to 13. Sex offenses increased just one with a move from three in 2008 to four in 2009.
Officers were busy with warrants in 2009. Officers worked 158 warrants in 2009, an increase from 140 in 2008. Officers were also busy serving 2,500 civil papers and that was about average for the department, Chinn said.
That averages out to almost seven papers served every day of the year.
In the jail, 717 inmates were booked and that was a decrease from 2008 with 745.
The sheriff’s office was able to return a substantial amount of money to the county from funds received for housing inmates from other counties, booking fees, civil process fees, registered offender fees and other fees.
All together, the sheriff’s office returned approximately $126,000 to the county coffers.
Sheriff’s deputies traveled many thousands of miles on regular county patrols and 2009 was an injury and accident free year for Sheriff’s employees.
Chinn was pleased with the efforts of his officers and employees for 2009.
“I applaud my staff and their commitment to Pratt County. The Pratt County Sheriff’s Office also greatly appreciates the local support and cooperation we get from our citizens,” Chinn said.
