While overall crime in Cheney continues to inch upwards, perhaps the most startling increase shown in the Police Department’s recent Monthly Accountability Report (MAR) is the amount of overtime paid through nine months of the current budget year.
According to the September MAR, with 75 percent of the year elapsed the department is at 329.1 percent of its $16,000 of budgeted overtime, having paid $52,661.11 so far with three more months remaining. By comparison, department Cmdr. Rick Campbell said overtime was at 131.2 percent of budget at this same time last year, and finished 2013 totaling $44,843; 280.3 percent of budget.
The biggest reason for the climbing overtime is staffing, not just to cover special events and officers absent because of training but mainly from absences due to illness.
“Covering the holes,” Campbell said. “When one person is out we have to shuffle the whole schedule to cover the one hole.”
Overall, the department is at 72.8 percent of its budget, with categories such as the criminal justice fund, supplies and vehicle maintenance below budget. That will change Campbell said when some large bills, such as the department’s vehicle leasing bill paid this month, show up in the next report.
As for criminal activity, the department logged 134 reportable crimes in the recently completed July — September period, with the 38 reports in August second lowest to January’s 35. Year-to-date, there have been 437 reports, a little over 5.7 percent more than the 412 reported through September 2013.
A closer look at the numbers show assaults are up 34.42 percent, domestic violence reports up about 21.14 percent and restraining orders up 42.10 percent when compared to the total through three quarters of 2013. On the flipside, thefts are down 10.49 percent, robberies 50 percent from six to three and criminal drug offenses have virtually dropped off the chart, declining from 20 through September 2013 to just two so far this year – a likely consequence, Campbell believes, of voter legalization of marijuana in 2012.
Patrol calls for service are up 8.61 percent, from 5,467 to 5,982 while reports from those calls have declined from 885 to 837. Both misdemeanor and felony arrests generated by those calls are down, with the 14 misdemeanor arrests in July the lowest in 2014. Like February, September had no felony arrests recorded.
Traffic contacts and traffic warnings declined 13.1 percent and 16.6 percent respectively while citations are up 2.7 percent.
Overall, about 55 percent of the 40,904 computer-aided dispatch calls received so far this year are for the Cheney Police Department while the rest go to the Eastern Washington University Police Department. Those 40,000-plus calls are a 20.28 percent increase over last year’s figures, although that’s partly due to a 26.37 percent in calls for EWUPD, as compared to a 15.36 percent increase in Cheney Police calls.
Cheney’s communications staff have been spending 48 percent fewer hours on data entry, but 19 percent more of their time on probation reports and 25 percent more time on both no contact orders and warrants. Campbell said he expects the amount of time on no contact orders to increase, now that Cheney Municipal Court is capable of issuing such orders.
In an email, Municipal Court Administrator Terri Cooper said the start date for issuing no contact orders has been delayed due to the court “taking on Medical Lake’s caseload and staffing issues.” Cooper said a date should be set soon, likely after the Jan. 1, 2015.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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