Moses Lake crime rates on par
City crime now comparable to cities of similar size
MOSES LAKE — Grant County's largest city has a crime rate comparable to other cities its size in Washington, according to a report recently given to the Moses Lake City Council.
The Uniform Crime Report (a calculation for crime rates) for cities of similar size has found that cities like Ellensburg and Centralia had a lower crime rate than Moses Lake in 2003, but Moses Lake's crime rate is below cities like Sunnyside and Kelso.
"Between comparable cities, it's looking better for us," Moses Lake Police Chief Dean Mitchell told the city council.
Mitchell said that the city of Moses Lake faced a higher crime rate in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but that rate has since dropped to a more comparable level in recent years. Officers have responded to more calls in recent years, but calls to the department for service and reports of more serious accidents are down from 2003 to 2004.
Officers responded to approximately 800 more calls from 2003 to 2004 but have received 60 fewer calls in the first third of 2005, compared to the same period last year. According to the MLPD 2004 annual report, the department has responded to 21 percent more calls since 1999.
Incidents of rape and robbery saw a slight decline from 2003 to 2004, but officers responded to more calls of assault and arson. Reports of crimes like burglaries, thefts and malicious mischief also saw slight increases from 2003 to 2004. Mitchell said that it is tough to attribute the rate to anything in particular, saying the crime rate changes as economic and demographic levels change and as the population increases.
The MLPD is working with the Grant County Juvenile Detention Center and Moses Lake Code Enforcement to clean up malicious mischief acts like graffiti with a program called Teaching Kids Responsibility. The program is designed to have specific gang graffiti cleaned up by juveniles affiliated with the identified gang.
Graffiti was one crime where officers saw a jump in the early 1990s, and Mitchell said reports of graffiti continue to fluctuate. Mitchell said that the department tries to get that graffiti cleaned up soon after it is reported.
"The sooner you get it cleaned up, the less graffiti you have to deal with," Mitchell said.
Another tool Mitchell hopes his officers will have by the end of this summer will be the installation of laptop computers in each of the department's 10 patrol cars. Instead of only being able to write up reports at MLPD offices, Mitchell told the council that the computers allow officers to access mapping programs and the system to determine whether a person has a criminal record.
The MLPD also reported a drop in the number of reportable accidents from 695 to 626 accidents handled by the agency from 2003 to 2004. The reduction was done in part because of a policy change where the police department no longer investigate non-injury accidents on private property or accidents reported at a later date. No fatal accidents and a drop in injury, property damage and hit-and-run accidents were also reported in the annual report in 2004.
An increase in driving under the influence citations of approximately 50 percent from 2003 to 2004 has been attributed to emphasis patrols in the city that Mitchell has seen make a real impact. He feels people are starting to realize they need to arrange for a designated driver if they choose to drink.
Patrol officers have also been putting in more time at city intersections on the lookout for red light violators. Moses Lake traffic lights don't have cameras, but Mitchell said officers are utilizing other tools to enforce red light laws.
"People need to realize," Mitchell said, "once you enter the intersection of a red light, you're in violation."