Complaints increase in ’04 at PISH
The number of complaints received by the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Department in 2004 equaled figures from two years ago but were up from 2003. Year-end statistics were released earlier this week by Sgt. Larry Kierzek and reveal that there were 250 more complaints called into PI central dispatch, compared to 2003. The complaints went from 2,431 to 2,687. In December alone, there were 50 more complaints compared with totals from a year ago, during the final month of the year.
While felony arrests were down from 76 to 57 in 2004, the numbers indicate a disturbing trend over the last three years, as the number of criminal sexual conduct investigations is on the rise. There were eight CSC investigations in 2002, 14 in 2003, and 18 last year.
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT complaints doubled from three to six and non-aggravated assaults spiked from 69 in 2003, to 96. Larcenies jumped from 75 to 93 in 2004, while malicious destruction of property complaints were down from 95 in 2003 to 67. That shows a steady decline from 2002, when there were 105 MDOP complaints.
Car/deer accidents increased in 2004 from 341 to 361. Injury accidents went down (54, 2004; 65, 2003), while property damage accidents were up from 1
FOR THE second year in a row, there was one fatal accident on a county road. On June 17, an ATV operated by Ervin Roy Nowak, 72, was struck by a semi truck traveling northbound on US-23. He died at the scene.
The number of traffic stops was down from 1,361 in 2003 to 1,303 last year, but citations issued increased from 308 to 337. Total miles traveled by officers was 210,807, an increase of 5,000 miles from a year ago. The numbers are down from 2002, when more than a quarter of a million miles were logged (227,195).
THE VALUE of property recovered was at a three-year high as officers recorded $23,225 worth of merchandise involved in crimes being recovered in 2004. That’s up from $10,670 in 2003, and up slightly from 2002, when $19,736 worth of property was recovered. Operating under the influence arrests equaled 2003 figures as 42 drunk drivers were arrested. Patrol hours (5,416, 2004; 5,530, 2003) and special details (9,693, 2004; 9,753, 2003) were both down slightly over a year’s time.