With growth comes jump in Valley crime statistics

Published 1:44 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

UPPER VALLEY – As the Valley’s quality of life continues to attract more people, local law enforcement officials know that other, less desirable things will grow along with the population.

The total number of crimes has increased in Snoqualmie and North Bend in recent years, but it’s not cause for concern.

“We have the same crimes as any other city,” Snoqualmie Director of Public Safety Don Isley said. “We just don’t have the same amount or number of crimes as other cities.”

Snoqualmie’s number of incidents, or calls for service, rose steadily from 2,369 in 1998, to 3,688 in 2001. Included in those numbers, thefts rose from 96 to 248, and burglaries rose from 19 to 26 during the same period.

Isley said the most obvious reason for the increase is the influx of people Snoqualmie Ridge has brought to the city.

“We’re a growing city, so that is going to happen,” he said. “Snoqualmie is one of the safest cities to live in.”

North Bend saw a similar trend. Calls for service from 1998-1999 rose from 1,379 to 1,771, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office, which contracts with the city to provide police service. In 2000, it dipped to 1,582 calls.

The numbers of incidents for 2001 won’t be available until April.

Burglaries went down between 1998-1999 from 42 to 25, but they increased in 2000 to 36.

While calls for service have risen, the number of violent crimes remained steady. In Snoqualmie, the number of assaults from 1999-2001 was 32, 19 and 23, respectively, and the number of rapes fluctuated between two to five.

North Bend had a similar occurrence of rapes, and not one homicide has been reported in that city since 1997.

One statistic that stands out is the number of reported domestic disturbances, both verbal disputes and physical, which rose in Snoqualmie from 39 to 44 in 1998-2001, and in North Bend from 52 to 64 in 1998-2000.

That hasn’t triggered alarm bells for police because part of the increase can be attributed to people who are more willing to report domestic assaults.

“As far as the domestic numbers go [for Snoqualmie], they can be simple disputes on up to a full-fledged assault,” said Snoqualmie Police Division Capt. Jim Schaffer. “I think the public is getting more involved.”

Sgt. Grant Stewart of the King County Sheriff’s Office North Bend Substation agreed.

“There has been a lot more education out there,” he said. “People know they can speak up.”

More involved police departments help, too. Both cities have officers who have started block-watch patrols and other crime prevention programs.

Stewart said he would like to see an anti-car theft program for the area. Although vehicle thefts in North Bend hovered between 18 to 20 from 1998-2000, he said nationally the trend is more cars are being stolen, which he believes is due to the difficulty of prosecuting suspects.

“Someone will always say, ‘I borrowed this car from my friend,’ although they don’t know their friend’s last name, where they are or anything else about them,” he said. “The best the system can do sometimes is just get them with possession of stolen property.”

King County is in the process of developing an anti-car theft program called “Watch Your Car” that would allow citizens to register their cars in a database that officers could consult. But the program has run into problems with civil-rights groups who say cars will be pulled over because former owners didn’t take themselves off the database list after selling the car.

“It may be a while before that gets going,” Stewart said.