Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Crime statistics included in the Shawano Police Department’s annual report are probably not as telling as what’s been going on behind the scenes over the past year, according to Police Chief Mark Kohl.
Incidents logged in 2014 compared to 2013 have seen some slight fluctuations, but no drastic increases or reductions in those crimes. In many cases, the numbers are low enough that any small change can result in a huge percentage swing.
The biggest increase logged over the past year was the number of code violations, nearly doubling from 170 in 2013 to 309 in 2014.
That increase is not so much because more violations are occurring, but because more of them are being reported, which, according to Kohl, goes back to the behind-the-scenes efforts to partner with the community and get residents more involved.
Kohl made it a priority when he came aboard in May to address aesthetic, quality-of-life issues, including such things as weed control and clearing snow from sidewalks, and working with the community to make that happen.
“More people are reporting it, more people are making a conscious effort to police their own neighborhoods,” Kohl said. “That’s what I’m happy with, because we’re working in partnerships with them.”
In most cases, the complaints result in a talk with the home owner, who complies, and no ticket has to be issued.
Most crime statistics over the year were relatively flat.
There were 30 residential burglaries reported in 2014 compared to 36 in 2013; arrests for operating while intoxicated crept up to 67 in 2014 from 61 the year before; theft, including shoplifting, decreased in 2014 to 279 from 319 in 2013.
“My goal as chief here and the great men and women of the Police Department is to show a continued reduction in those types of calls,” Kohl said.
Kohl said community policing and efforts such as the citizen police academy and neighborhood watches would continue to be a priority in 2015.
“I’m hoping the partnerships with the community will really help drive down some of those crimes,” Kohl said.
The department had 8,465 calls for service in 2014, compared to 7,952 in 2013.
The highest number of calls were for welfare checks, 404; truancies, 395; suspicious persons or incidents, 375; assisting other law enforcement agencies, 373; animal problems, 372; ambulance or medical assists, 365; and vehicle lockouts, 347.
One area where Kohl expects the numbers to go up is drug incidents, which rose from 87 in 2013 to 104 in 2014.
The city has earmarked additional money specifically for drug enforcement efforts, though those efforts have been slowed by manpower shortages.
The department is in the process of filling two patrol vacancies and will add a detective position later in the year.
That will mean overtime spent to keep the streets patrolled will instead be shifted to overtime work on drug investigations.
Kohl said the result would be more drug cases and arrests in the coming year.
“I would predict that number will significantly increase in 2015,” he said.