Gig Harbor shows improvement in annual state crime report

Gig Harbor police chief Kelly Busey is feeling optimistic about the path his police force is taking after seeing state crime numbers that reflect well on the Gig Harbor Police Department.

An annual report from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs gathered data from city departments, county sheriffs and the Washington State Patrol to create a comprehensive data map of crime across the state.

In 2017, a majority of crimes in the state, 71.9 percent, were crimes against property, according to the annual report. This includes robbery, burglary, breaking and entering, larceny-theft offenses, motor vehicle theft, arson and more. Over 20 percent of crimes in the state were crimes against persons which includes murder, manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, aggravated assault, kidnapping, human trafficking and more. The last 7.3 percent of crimes are those such as animal cruelty, drug and narcotic violations, gambling offenses, pornography, prostitution and more.

The report also included a “crime clock” which takes the average number of crimes in the year and uses it to create an idea of how often the crimes happen each day in the state. According to this clock, a crime against persons happens every 5.4 minutes; murder takes place every 1.8 days, rape takes place every 3.5 hours and aggravated assault takes place every 40.5 minutes.

Crime against property happens every 1.6 minutes; robbery takes place every 1.8 hours, a burglary takes place every 12.9 minutes, larceny and theft offenses take place every 3.3 minutes, motor vehicle theft takes place every 19.1 minutes and arson takes place every 9.2 hours.

In Gig Harbor, the reports show a better response from local police.

“I believe having more officers has helped us this last year,” Busey said, who presented the report during the Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce’s Public Affairs Forum May 17. “It’s shown in the numbers that having more officers in cars has helped us.”

Busey said if he had his wish, he’d have 100 police officers in his department, but he is happy to have added a few more to the ranks from a budget increase in 2017. The department is looking to add two more experienced officers by the end of this summer.

According to the report, calls for service went up between 2016 and 2017 from 9,363 to 10,040. The report also shows a crime rate of 95.4 per 1,000 residents in Gig Harbor. The state average is 69.1 per 1,000 residents. Busey said this number is a bit off because Gig Harbor only has 9,110 residents, according to numbers from 2016, who live within the city boundaries. A small number compared to its neighbor, Tacoma, whose population was 211,277 in 2016.

"Also we have an influx in our population during the day,” Busey said. “We probably add up to 800 people in our city during the work day or when it’s nice out and we have tourists. The population drops after the work commute.”

Busey said a good portion of crimes, particularly retail theft which has become the department’s No. 1 issue, is caused by people who travel into Gig Harbor from out of town.

Busey said he is proud of the number of cases being cleared in 2017 compared to 2016. In 2016, 23.9 percent of type "B" cases, such as DUIs, disorderly conduct, voyeurism and trespassing, were cleared. In 2017, the number rose to 29.3 percent.

For major crimes, which include those listed in the report's “crime clock”, there were 913 crimes and 207 arrests in Gig Harbor in 2016. In 2017, there were 912 crimes and 232 arrests.

“This is a good improvement for us,” Busey said.

Busey said he is looking forward to expanding his police force and will be focusing his team on helping stop retail theft and opioid crimes.

Weekly chamber forum

What: Dialogue with civic, educational and business thought leaders.

When: 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. every Thursday.

Where: Cottesmore of Life Care, 2909 14th Ave. NW, Gig Harbor.

Information: Free to attend. Breakfast for purchase.

This story was originally published May 29, 2018 at 12:06 PM with the headline "Gig Harbor shows improvement in annual state crime report."