It seems that every year, no matter the year, the phrase “crime is at an all-time high” can be heard. You hear on the national news about more break-ins, more thefts or more sexual assaults than before, and it can make it feel like the world has gone to the dogs. But numbers show this isn’t happening in Dent County. And in some categories, it’s quite the opposite.
Prosecuting attorney Andrew Curley in a meeting with The Salem News this month detailed a welcome trend that has been on a linear decrease since 2012. Incidents of crime are reported by all law enforcement agencies and the courts to the Missouri Highway Patrol. These incidents are initiated when law enforcement requests the formal filing of criminal charges. The highway patrol collects these incident reports and generates Uniform Crime Reports therefrom to provide a yearly overview of crimes committed by type of offense, including criminal homicide, negligent manslaughter, rape, attempted rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny/theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, other violent crimes and property crimes.
This type of reporting is officer driven, which removes concern that a prosecutor is toying with the numbers by declining to file case, says Curley. From 2012 to 2017, each of those categories has shown a significant yearly decrease, according to these statistics, which are available to the public on the patrol’s website.
Curley encourages anyone to check these reports to check on law enforcement effectiveness, but points out there is a glaring omission of crime statistic for possession of a controlled substance and distribution/manufacturing. Curley speculates that politics may be involved. He is confident that drug offenses still occur at a concerning rate and monitors these rates with the Missouri Office of Supreme Courts Administration.
So, what do the official reports say about the crimes that are reported in Dent County:
• rape is down by 66 percent since 2012
• robbery is down by 100 percent
• aggravated assault is down by 42 percent
•burglary is down 40 percent
•larceny/theft is down 32 percent
•motor vehicle theft is down 27 percent
•violent crimes are down 39 percent
•property crimes are down 32 percent and
• arson is down by 300 percent.
It’s important to put those numbers into perspective, however. How can a crime be down 300 percent? Salem is a small community, and while crime does occur, it happens at a much less frequent rate than a larger city. In 2012, three cases of arson were reported, and in 2017 none were reported, ergo a 300 percent decrease. Property crimes, the highest number of crimes in the report, began at 296 cases in 2012, and have dropped 32 percent to 201 cases in 2017.
Curley points out that Dent has seen a substantial decrease in the overall crime rate. “I took office in 2013 and at that time, Judge Kelly Parker told me he believed a small percentage of defendants were causing a large portion of crime in Dent. This meant that diagnosing these recidivist defendants was the first step and obtaining long-term punishment was the next. He attributes the decrease in crime to:
Coordination with all law enforcement agencies to identify career criminals, which he has compiled a list of these defendants and displays their mugshots with criminal histories in his office;
Targeted and coordinated multi-agency investigations on these identified dangerous individuals;
Once arrested, engagement in prosecution strategies to achieve extended prison sentences;
Experienced and effective judicial branch sentencing these defendants to extended sentences consistent with the recommendations made by the prosecutor.
“We have targeted individuals who have been and are actively committing crimes in our community. When law enforcement busts them, we make sure to seek double-digit prison sentences,” Curley explained. “Parole release rates are pretty low at this time. The Department of Corrections is full, it’s been full for a while. I’ve seen parole eligibility as low as 12 percent on non-violent offenders, such as thieves and drug dealers. So, to get targeted defendants (violent/thieves/child molesters/rapists/drug dealers) in prison and keep them in (which is our goal), it takes a coordinated effort and a little patience with the criminal justice system.”
What about drug users? According to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, 5.4 percent of all Missourians surveyed had done meth in their lifetimes, and two percent did heroin. Also, according to the MDMH meth and heroin usage in Missouri has been on a steady incline since 2011. Curley explains that these individuals, if they have minimal criminal histories, are treated differently than violent offenders.
“I don’t feel sorry for defendants with lengthy prison sentences for those (violent/thieves/child molesters/drug dealers/rapists) individuals,” he said. “Others outside of that, the drug users for instance, (they) aren’t receiving lengthy prison sentences, whether I wanted them to or not. We are finding, in instances where a defendant has no prior felony convictions, our judicial system prefers probation as a starting point over DOC. These defendants go through extensive rehabilitation efforts before they ever end up in prison.
“I wish rural communities had more resources available to effectively address addiction, but the few options we do have, we have been working with to improve results. We utilize pretrial diversion, in-patient/out-patient drug treatment, probation officers, community service work, drug court and incarceration. The current strategy is to methodically ratchet up the pressure, depending on the particular defendant, trying to find that pressure point that changes the addict’s behavior. If we are unable to find a way to change the behavior in the community, then department of corrections is the ultimate result. It isn’t perfect, but it is the best we have available at this time.”
The steady decrease in non-drug related crime has given Curley the opportunity to focus more on the community drug problem, he said.
“The war on drugs is often frustrating and seemingly never ending. We are getting hit from all sides. Black market drugs are trafficked on nearby Interstate 44 and some out-of-area doctors are overprescribing opioids, benzo’s and amphetamine (Adderall) to citizens of our community, which are often paid for by our tax dollars through Medicaid. I acknowledge that substance abuse is one of our big issues, but it’s not disproportionate to what we have seen over the last five years, which varies between 25 to 50 percent of our caseload. We will continue to use every strategy and resource available to address this issue. It is going to require a community oriented approach to obtain the best results…..and more employment opportunities and education efforts for our people would be a great help” Curley said.
