Property crime in Warrenton, including burglary and theft, was down in 2016, according to data collected by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.Total reported property crimes dropped from 442 in 2015 …
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Property crime in Warrenton, including burglary and theft, was down in 2016, according to data collected by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.Total reported property crimes dropped from 442 in 2015 to 300 in 2016.Police Chief Greg Houdyshell said crimes can fluctuate up or down by a wide margin from year to year, but that property crime numbers generally have been falling in recent years.In 2012, the average number of property crime reports over the previous five years was 466. In 2016, that average was 410.The decrease in Warrenton property crimes follows a nationwide downward trend, Houdyshell said.Violent crime, on the other hand, has remained relatively steady, averaging about 44 per year since 2008. The number of reported violent crimes in 2016 was 68, up from a lower-than-average total of 37 in 2015. Aggravated assaults account for nearly all of that change, more than doubling in 2016 from the year before.“The thing about violent crime is it’s typically personal,” Houdyshell said. “Until society as a whole can figure out a way to help everybody get along, violent crime will continue.”Houdyshell delivered an annual police report to the Warrenton Board of Aldermen Feb. 21., citing an increased number of arrests and more felony cases being taken to prosecution.There were 663 arrests in 2016 compared to 575 in 2015, and the number of felony investigations leading to legal charges was up to 51 percent from 38 percent.“We changed personnel” in the criminal investigation division, Houdyshell said. “Two fresh set of eyes were looking at things a little differently, with renewed energy, and they really got a lot of cases cleared.”The total number of calls for service was down a large amount based on data tracked by Warren County Dispatch, but Houdyshell said that likely is a computer discrepancy.The department changed computer systems in March, after which certain patrol calls stopped getting logged, he said, estimating that total calls for service were close to the same since the year before.Total service calls in 2015 were about 38,000, while that reported number in 2016 was around 36,000.Warren County Sheriff's Department
