2018 Lincoln County crime statistics

By WADE MAGERS

Lincoln County Sheriff

In 2018, Lincoln County had a decrease by 30 percent in overall crime compared to 2017 but experienced an increase in calls for service by 306 over 2017. The crime statistics are only figured through October but the trend is maintaining.

The calls for service include everything we give a case number that is assigned to a deputy to investigate, for example, car collisions, neighborhood disputes, death investigations and general calls for service. This also includes criminal traffic arrests such as DUI and driving while license suspended. The total calls for service in 2018 were 5,309 up from 5,003 in 2017, however felonious crime decreased from 208 in 2017 to 145 in 2018. Felonious crimes include rape, robbery, burglary, theft, identify theft, drug violations and other sub-categories as defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These types of crimes are reported to the FBI by all jurisdictions throughout the United States. These statistics create a standardized reporting of national crime data, where many of the media releases on crime data originate.

The statistics listed do not include traffic infractions which are not represented in either calls for service or crime statistics listed here.

In Lincoln County, I am proud to report we had a decrease by 30 percent in overall crimes reported. We saw a 23 percent decrease in crimes against persons, a 28 percent decrease in crimes against property and a 58 percent decrease in crimes against society.

Crimes against society include drug violations, gambling or animal cruelty and have no specific victim, such as a business or financial institution. Crimes against persons have an individual listed as a victim.

Although we never know for sure what the reasons are for decreased criminal activity, we can attribute a great deal of it to the pro-active police work and community partnerships. We made several big property crime arrests in 2017 and early 2018 that put suspects in jail, and as a result, they are not out on the street to continue to victimize people. We often see crime decrease in an area of the county when we have a suspect in jail that we believe was responsible for thefts or burglaries in an area and crimes stops. Many of these suspects have been sentenced to prison, and removing them from the streets has a direct influence on the decrease of overall crime. Lincoln County citizens are pro-active and call in suspicious circumstances, allowing deputies to investigate potential crimes quickly leading to arrests and successful prosecution.