Crime trends

remain stable
By Melanie Davis
melanie@mountaintimes.com

The Watauga County Sheriff’s Office has released its preliminary 2007 crime statistics.

The numbers show a steady pace for Watauga, with only slight differences over 2006.

Deputies responded to a total of 13,540 calls, up 30 over the previous year.

The largest number of calls were damage to property at 336, compared to 286 in 2006.

Sheriff Len Hagaman said the office plans to be more vigilant in the county to prevent property damage, though he also contributes this increase to more insurance companies requiring a police report for reimbursement purposes.

All other crimes reported remained fairly consistent. There were two murders in Watauga in 2007 versus none the previous year. Reported rape was down by three, with only one in 2007.

There was also only one robbery in the current year, compared to two in 2006.

Aggravated assault increased by one, with 13 reported. Misdemeanor assault decreased by four, with 103 reported.

Total breaking and enterings increased by 11, with 185 forced entry and 49 non-forced entry cases in 2007.

There were 164 forced entry cases in 2006, while the number of non-forced entry remained the same.

Watauga County investigated four reports of arson, as opposed to six in 2006.

The total of motor vehicle thefts increased by 12 over 2006. There were 33 automobiles stolen and 19 other vehicles, which would include trucks and sport utility vehicles.

In 2006, the numbers were 31 and 9 respectively.

Motor vehicle breaking and entering was down in 2007, with 39 reports, nine fewer than the previous year.

When compiling the totals for 2007, Hagaman noted some inconsistencies in code entry.

An example would be when one officer lists a door that has been kicked in as property damage, while another may list the crime as a breaking and entering.

The sheriff’s office pulled reports for the entire year of 2007 and reviewed them prior to release to ensure accurate reporting.

As a result of this need for review, and the time involved in the review, Hagaman said the department will be instituting an in-service course on categorization of crime.

“Our goal is take out the subjectivity of reporting and replace it with objectivity,” he said.

Hagaman continued by saying uniform entry by all officers is vital because these numbers are used to determine areas of focus for enforcement.