Property crime has dropped for most areas of the North Olympic Peninsula, according to reports of offenses known to law enforcement and reported to the FBI.
Incidents of burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft fell from 2013 to 2014 in Clallam County and its three largest cities of Forks, Port Angeles and Sequim, according to the FBI uniform crime figures for 2014.
Burglary involves taking another’s property by breaking and entering; larceny, taking by stealth; robbery, taking by force or threat of force.
The first two are considered property crimes; the last is regarded as a crime of violence.
Jefferson County and Port Townsend, however, showed marked rises in reports of property crimes during the same time period. Most violent crimes also rose in Jefferson and its county seat.
Detective Luke Bogues of the Port Townsend Police Department said officers hadn’t noticed more violent crimes despite the statistical increase.
He credited the rise to replacing old, ineffective reporting software.
“The violent crime bottom line is that I’d say the numbers in 2013 and 2014 are our ‘normal,’ and prior years were under-reported because of out-of-date records software,” Bogues said Thursday.
Mike Evans, Port Townsend’s interim police chief, said the rising tide of heroin use — which washed over Clallam County in recent years — had reached Jefferson and accounted for an increased rate of property offenses.
“Substance abuse seems to be going up,” he said. “We’re a little behind Clallam on that.”
Bogues agreed.
“We were chasing burglars all of last year,” he said. “It was bad.
“We made some significant arrests at the end of the year that put an end to the burglary sprees and returned us to a more normal level that, thankfully, seems to have continued.”
Drug-related crime produced an increase of two-tenths of an incident per 1,000 residents in unincorporated Jefferson County, and eight-tenths of an incident in Port Townsend, according to the FBI figures that were released in late September 2015 for calendar year 2014.
For this report, ratios were rounded to the nearest one-tenth of an incident.
Few crimes, big percentages
Bogues also said the small sample sizes of rural communities across the North Olympic Peninsula can produce large percentage changes from actual incremental increases in crimes.
“In reality, when you’re dealing with a handful of incidents, it only takes a couple bad apples committing a few more crimes to make it look like there’s a crime wave,” he said.
“The fact of the matter is, Port Townsend is a safe place.”
In Forks, violent crimes also grew, with raises reported for rapes and aggravated assaults. Even so, Forks’ 50 percent increase reflected only six more violent crimes in 2014 than in 2013.
Port Angeles saw an uptick of five more violent crimes during the same period.
Elsewhere in Clallam County, unincorporated areas saw a drop of 12 violent crimes and 140 property crimes.
Here are the totals and breakdowns drawn from the FBI’s “2014 Crime in the United States” report:
Unincorporated areas
Clallam County
Population 73,312 as of 2013. FBI statistics did not list county populations for 2014.
■ 2014 violent crimes: 54 (0.7 per 1,000 residents), including two homicides, 10 rapes, six robberies, 36 aggravated assaults (attacks that resulted in injuries).
■ 2013 violent crimes: 66 (0.9 per 1,000), including 12 rapes, four robberies, 50 aggravated assaults.
■ 2014 property crimes: 734 (1.0 per 1,000), including 268 burglaries, 425 larcenies, 41 motor vehicle thefts.
■ 2013 property crimes: 874 (1.2 per 1,000), including 303 burglaries, 523 larcenies, 48 motor vehicle thefts.
Jefferson County
Population 30,076 as of 2013.
■ 2014 violent crimes: 30 (1.0 per 1,000), including 15 rapes, one robbery, 14 aggravated assaults.
■ 2013 violent crimes: 29 (0.9 per 1,000), including 10 rapes, 19 aggravated assaults.
■ 2014 property crimes: 407 (1.4 per 1,000), including 155 burglaries, 232 larcenies, 20 motor vehicle thefts.
■ 2013 property crimes: 362 (1.2 per 1,000), including 90 burglaries, 250 larcenies, 22 motor vehicle thefts.
Cities
Forks
Population 3,726 in 2014, 3,744 for 2013.
■ 2014 violent crimes: 18 (0.5 per 1,000), including four rapes, two robberies, 12 aggravated assaults.
■ 2013 violent crimes: 12 (3.2 per 1,000), including one rape, three robberies, eight aggravated assaults.
■ 2014 property crimes: 78 (2.0 per 1,000), including 23 burglaries, 53 larcenies, two motor vehicle thefts.
■ 2013 property crimes: 91 (2.4 per 1,000), including 17 burglaries, 71 larcenies, three motor vehicle thefts.
Port Angeles
Population 19,220 in 2014, 19,053 for 2013.
■ 2014 violent crimes: 99 (0.5 per 1,000), including one homicide, 17 rapes, 17 robberies, 64 aggravated assaults.
■ 2013 violent crimes: 94 (0.5 per 1,000), including one homicide, 18 rapes, 15 robberies, 60 aggravated assaults.
■ 2014 property crimes: 843 (4.3 per 1,000), including 168 burglaries, 617 larcenies, 58 motor vehicle thefts.
■ 2013 property crimes: 869 (4.6 per 1,000), including 194 burglaries, 634 larcenies, 41 motor vehicle thefts.
Port Townsend
Population 9,231 in 2014, 9,112 for 2013.
■ 2014 violent crimes: 58 (0.6 per 1,000), including nine rapes, four larcenies, 45 aggravated assaults.
■ 2013 violent crimes: 41 (0.4 per 1,000), including four rapes, one larceny, 36 aggravated assaults.
■ 2014 property crimes: 347 (3.8 per 1,000), including 95 burglaries, 241 larcenies, 11 motor vehicle thefts.
■ 2013 property crimes: 272 (3.0 per 1,000), including 67 burglaries, 194 larcenies, 11 motor vehicle thefts.
Sequim
Population 6,682 in 2014, 6,625 for 2013.
■ 2014 violent crimes: Eight (1.2 per 1,000), including two robberies, six aggravated assaults.
■ 2013 violent crimes: 13 (2.0 per 1,000), including two rapes, two robberies, nine aggravated assaults.
■ 2014 property crimes: 368 (5.5 per 1,000), including 59 burglaries, 300 larcenies, nine motor vehicle thefts.
■ 2013 property crimes: 383 (5.8 per 1,000), including 61 burglaries, 308 larcenies, 14 motor vehicle thefts.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.
