It was, by any measure, a consistent year for the Mitchell Police Division.
Statistics reported in the MPD's newly released annual report show no major jumps in crime, from low level traffic violations to the most serious felonies, or in the number of emergency calls the department received.
"Things are staying pretty steady," said Mitchell Public Safety Chief Lyndon Overweg. "Enough to commend the officers and the citizens both."
The Mitchell Police Division investigated 3,525 criminal cases in 2012, Sedlmeier was driving drunk and fled from an officer in his vehicle, ran a stop sign at the intersection of First Avenue and Duff Street and collided with an SUV carrying six people. One of those people, 9-year-old Iszabella Morgan, died as a result of the crash.
Sedlmeier later pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
ADVERTISEMENT
There were no cases of murder or non-negligent manslaughter in the city in 2012.
Other 2012 crime-related statistics for Mitchell include:
Forcible rapes and sexual assaults
- 2011: Five.
- 2012: Nine.
Statutory rapes
- 2011: Nine.
- 2012: Seven.
Robbery
- 2011: Two
- 2012: Three
Burglaries
- 2011: 48
- 2012: 51
Thefts
- 2011: 35 in 2012 from 13,350 in 2011.
"They're always very close year after year," Overweg said, referring to the number of calls. "Not only in Mitchell but in the other counties."
But the number of calls that resulted in a written report increased nearly 15 percent from 2,679 in 2011 to 3,076 in 2012, which equates to about one more report written each day during 2012.
ADVERTISEMENT
Overweg said the increase could have been weatherrelated, but couldn't attribute the increase to any particular cause.
He said there were no policy changes last year that would have caused the increase.
The number of simple assault cases increased to 233 in 2012 from 202 in 2011, while the number of aggravated assault cases remained almost even, with 28 in 2012 and 29 in 2011.
The city had one case of non-negligent manslaughter. That occurred March 24 when 47-year-old Michael according to the department's annual report. Of those, 2,150, or 61 percent, were cleared by arrest; or cleared by the recovery of stolen property, restitution or a guilty plea to a lesser charge; or cleared in an investigation in which the victim didn't want to press charges; or cleared by being referred to another agency or being unfounded.
"Anytime you can hit 60 or above, that's very good," Overweg said, referring to the clearance rate.
Some cases, such as hitand-runs, can be difficult to clear, Overweg said.
"There are going to be cases in there with very little evidence at all," he said. "And some of them just have no leads at all."
The number of 911 calls decreased slightly to 13,112
ADVERTISEMENT
- 2012: 34
Shoplifting
- 2011: 97
- 2012: 79
Thefts from motor vehicles
- 2011: 62
- 2012: 54
Thefts of motor vehicles
- 2011: 20
- 2012: 21
Drug violations
- 2011: 170
- 2012: 216
Drunken driving
- 2011: 122
- 2012: 106
Speeding tickets
- 2011: 415
- 2012: 325
Reckless, careless and exhibition driving
- 2011: 83
- 2012: 69
Seat belt violations
- 2011: 124
- 2012: 113
Hit-and-runs
- 2011: 65
- 2012: 36
Traffic accidents
- 2011: 736
- 2012: 708
Injury accidents
- 2011: 45
- 2012: 44
Damage caused in traffic accidents
- 2011: $1.98 million
- 2012: $1.63 million
Overweg said the Department of Public Safety is always looking for trends in its statistics. "If there are big spikes, we'll usually use that throughout the year," he said. Overweg was pleased to see most of the statistics remained relatively consistent between 2011 and 2012. "I'd like to commend the public for being safety conscious," Overweg said. "That's a big part."
