Westlake police have seen a nearly 17 percent increase in arrests over a three-year period, according to recently-released crime figures. And calls for service complaints, which Chief Chris Wilrye said is any contact police have when dealing with the public, have risen over 130 percent during the same time frame.
“Our officers are much more proactive. They are out there in the public being seen,” said Wilrye, whose department currently has 17 full-time officers.
Wilrye called the report, which covers a period beginning January 1, 2014 and ending on December 31, 2016, an “eye-opener” to what is going in Westlake, especially during his first two years in office. He was elected in November 2014.
“We wanted the public to know what exactly we do here in Westlake,” he said of the released figures.
According to the report, in 2014, there were 384 total arrests. That number was 448 in 2016. And Wilrye cautioned that the latest figure should go up slightly due to pending warrants – 15 out as of the time of the report – for 2016 incidences.
Calls for service complaints, which Wilrye said includes “calls coming in, self-initiated stops, business checks, any contact with the public where a complaint sheet is pulled” totaled 3,496 in 2014; 7,106 in 2015; and 8,053 in 2016.
Traffic accidents had seen a big jump from 2014 to 2015 of 69.19 percent - 185 cases to 313. But 2016 saw a slight decline over 2015 with 306 incidences.
Traffic citations totaled 2,037 in 2014; 2,926 in 2015; and 3,683 in 2016. Those figures reflect an increase of almost 81 percent between the 2014 and 2016 numbers.
Wilrye said that the increases could be pinned down mainly to “all of the out-ot-town workers coming in to work for the refineries during the expansion.” He also stated that many of the accidents involved more than two vehicles.
“More traffic on the road equaled to increases in crashes and citations,” he said.
Wilrye also stated that due to road construction, many motorists had diverted themselves through neighborhoods, often speeding through them. He said 18-wheelers were also going into areas with roads not made for their heavier vehicles.
“In different areas, people have normally not seen many officers in the past. Now, they are driving along the road, and there are officers there monitoring traffic in the area,” said Wilrye.
Among other figures, Wilrye noted the nearly 85 percent increase in crimes involving narcotics from 2014 to 2015 - 163 cases to 301 - and the slight drop of 10.3 percent from 2015’s number to 270 cases in 2016. He said the increase can be attributed to more people moving though the area and that his department, which doesn’t have a full-time narcotics officer, utilized the CAT Team more in 2015.
“In 2016, we didn’t call them as much,” said Wilrye.
A significant decrease was found in burglary/robbery/larceny crimes over the three-year period - 374 in 2014; 307 in 2015; and 306 in 2016.
“Whenever we get a call, we investigate,” said Wilrye, “A lot of complaints made on social media [regarding burglaries and robberies], we don’t get calls about. People get on social media and make references to them, but we don’t get any reports. The ones we do get, we investigate them.”
He also noted that one of the biggest problems officers have been dealing with are burglaries/robberies of unlocked vehicles. Wilrye encourages motorists to always lock up their vehicles every time they leave it, no matter where they are parked.
As for other crimes, those that have seen an increase since 2014 include criminal property damage – in 2014 to 96 in 2016; disturbing the peace/civil disorders – 33 in 2014 to 53 in 2016; domestic violence – 42 in 2014 to 63 in 2016; assault/battery – 68 in 2014 and 70 in 2016; incidences involving juveniles – 8 in 2014 and 12 in 2016; and those sexually related – 7 in 2014 to 9 in 2016. Crimes that have decreased or stayed relatively flat include incidences involving DWI or alcohol – 49 in 2014 to 37 in 2016; trespassing – 48 in 2014 to 40 in 2016; casino incidences – 17 in 2014 to 14 in 2016; and hit and run – 28 in 2014 and 28 in 2016.
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