Crime continues to be steady in the city of Airway Heights
According to statistics from the Airway Heights Police Department, there were 2,870 reported incidents from January to June of this year. This is down 2 percent from 2,931 incidents from January to June of last year.
The northeast portion of the city still counts for most of the criminal activity (59 percent) with 1,707 incidents, a 9 percent increase from last year’s number of 1,558.
Airway Heights Sgt. Robert Swan said the area, which includes Walmart, Cedar Summit Estates and Northern Quest Resort and Casino, generates many calls for the department.
“You have people who camp at the casino, steal or prowl vehicles near Cedar Summit or at Walmart,” Swan said. “They affect the whole area.”
Crime in the northwest part of the city was at 504 reports, a 23 percent decline from last year. The southeast portion of the city had a decrease in incidents (518-511) as did the southwestern area (302-258).
Although overall crime stats are down, the Police Department conducted 636 reports, investigations and arrests, which is a 12 percent increase from last year.
Traffic incidents increased. From January to June there were 816 traffic incidents, 127 more than last year. Leading the category were traffic tickets (402) and driving while license suspended/no valid driver’s license incidents (95). Injury collisions were at 13 and non-injury collisions were at 18.
“I think they’re going to do some work at that intersection (in the future),” Swan said. “Accidents are up from last year (at Highway 2 and Hayford Road).”
Incidents at Northern Quest dropped from 262 to 229 calls. The majority of the incidents were traffic violations (60), agency assists (82) and warrant arrests (31). Overall, agency assistance reports were at 339, which is 44 less than last year.
Swan said the department recently hired a new officer, Erin Lance, who is “doing quite nicely.” He expects the department will hire more officers once the Spokane Tribe Economic Project is built.
The department is also switching over to a new computer-aided dispatch and automated records management system with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and the cities of Spokane and Liberty Lake. Swan said the new system will change how officers fill out reports and the calls they’ll have on the computer. He added that the system is set to deploy on Oct. 3.
“This is a huge thing for Spokane County, the city of Spokane and us,” Swan said. “We’re very excited. We’ll be on the same page as a lot of jurisdictions in the county.”
Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.
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