Article Contributed on: 6/8/2009 1:05:22 PM
Total crime in Douglas County decreased one percent between 2007 and 2008 due in part to citizen involvement, Sheriff David A. Weaver said when recapping the Douglas County Sheriff's Office 2008 Annual Report released earlier this month.
"Citizens have been very helpful," he said. "Having more officers on the streets, new technology and products to advise people what's going on has made folks more aware."
Technology, such as crime notices sent to cell phones and the implementation of the Text a Tip program, which started in February, has been extremely successful in engaging citizens, Weaver said. Text a Tip has been especially useful in schools, where anyone can text suspicious behavior to the sheriff's office from the comfort and privacy of a cell phone.
Also, the patrol division saw a decrease in the number of false-alarm calls as the result of a new ordinance that was enacted.
Since becoming the sheriff of Douglas County in 2007, Weaver has cut 19 positions from the office's supervisory staff structure. He said such cuts have enabled the sheriff's office to put more resources back on the streets.
"There has been no additional staffing or parole officer staffing," Weaver sad. "Overall, with the economy the way it is, we are extremely busy and very taxed, but we still maintain a safe community."
The most commonly occurring crimes in 2008 were theft, with 19 percent of the total crime; criminal mischief, with 11 percent of the total crime; fraud, with six percent; and drug violations, with five percent, followed by assault, with five percent.
In helping with lean times, Weaver said the Community Safety Volunteers have made a sizable difference with the hours they have devoted to helping with parole duties at the sheriff's office. Community Safety Volunteers worked over 9,000 hours and wrote 359 reports.
Other notable accomplishments from the report include the numerous arrests made by the office's Pattern Division, an arrest made in the county's only homicide for 2008 and the implementation of a newly computer-aided dispatch system and complete overhaul of records management.
Also, the sheriff's office reports a 20 percent decrease in citations issued to juveniles in possession of alcohol.
Weaver says the office's success comes from its programs, the community and its willingness to remain vigilant and supportive.
"In the last two years, we've added 60 new programs," Weaver said. "And those accomplishments have helped us."
If you would like to read the Douglas County Sheriff's Office 2008 Annual Report in full, go to www.dcsheriff.net and click on the link "Douglas County Sheriff's Office 2008 Annual Report
," or just click below:
Douglas County Sheriff's Office 2008 Annual Report »