PORT ANGELES — Numbers can’t give a full picture of the impact of property crimes, Port Angeles’ interim police chief said.
The true impact of a burglary or vehicle prowl hinges on the value of the stolen or damaged items and the disruption to the victim’s quality of life, according to Chief Brian Smith.
“The number is only one variable,” Smith said Friday.
Port Angeles has seen a 35.2 percent decrease in the number of breaking-and-entering and theft-from-vehicle reports in the past three months compared to previous three months, according to data from the interactive website www.crimereports.com.
However, there were two recently reported burglaries on the west side of the city that greatly alarmed residents.
In both cases, the alleged victims left their doors unlocked and were sleeping when a suspect entered their home in the early morning hours.
“Numbers of crimes are just numbers,” Smith said.
“The impacts of the numbers are different.”
Much of the recent property crime in Port Angeles has occurred in clusters around Lincoln, Race and C streets, Smith said.
Police on Friday were still investigating reported burglaries that occurred on the 1000 block of West Spruce Street at about March 23 and on the 700 block of West Sixth Street on Tuesday.
The man who reported the Spruce Street burglary told police he saw a shadowy figure he believed to be a slender man about 6 feet tall in a dark hood at the foot of his bed at about 4 a.m.
Medication, a laptop computer, a purse, cash and a credit card were reported as stolen.
A police dog was put on the trail but did not get a scent or find the alleged burglar, Sgt. Jason Viada said.
Reward offered
The man is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the alleged burglar.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Officer Bruce Fernie at 360-912-0232 or bfernie@cityofpa.us.
A woman who reported the burglary on West Sixth Street told police she awoke to the sound of her dogs running into her bedroom and footsteps coming from the front door at about 2:45 a.m.
She reported finding her purse, credit cards and keys missing and the front door opened. Officers found no suspects or evidence of forced entry.
City police were investigating with help from the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office last week.
“We think we have our suspect on video,” Smith said Thursday.
“Whether we can identify him is a different matter.”
Lock doors
Police are reminding residents to lock their homes, garages and vehicles and to hide valuables.
Phone 9-1-1 if you see a crime in progress or suspicious activity, police say.
“We haven’t been able to successfully alter everyone’s behavior to where things are locked,” said Smith, who speaks at regular neighborhood watch meetings with Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict, Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols and other law and justice officials.
“If we can get people to lock things up,” Smith added, “we can change outcomes.”
The public can view crime reports filed within the past six months in 30-day increments at www.crimereports.com.
Statistics
In Port Angeles, there were 199 breaking-and-entering and theft-from-vehicle reports in the last three months of 2015, compared to 129 in the first three months of this year, according to a Peninsula Daily News analysis.
“That doesn’t mean everything’s been reported,” Smith said.
By adding vehicle thefts and general thefts, reported property crimes fell from 351 in the last three months of 2015 to 260 in the first three months of this year, a 25.9 percent decrease.
The website has searchable layers for various types of crimes with maps showing where each report originated.
It also shows were registered sex offenders are living.
“The crime map is a tool available to everyone,” Smith said.
Smith said there has been no significant trend in property crime, good or bad, in the city.
“It’s one of the major things that we deal with all of the time,” Smith said.
“Until we change some dimension of the drug problem, we’re going to have a significant crime problem. That problem won’t go away on its own.”
In addition to the impacts on victims, property crime consumes precious law enforcement resources.
“We can spend hundreds of hours on a case,” Smith said.
A spate of daytime residential burglaries occurred in Port Angeles in the summer of 2010.
In 2011, power was cut to commercial businesses along Eighth Street during a slew of overnight burglaries in the city.
Last year saw an increase of car prowls in and around the city, Smith said.
“This stuff is with us all the time,” he said.
For information about neighborhood watch meetings or to schedule a meeting, contact Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Administrative Coordinator Lorraine Shore at lshore@co.clallam.wa.us.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
