In conjunction with National Crime Victims’ Rights Week April 7-13, The Record is reporting on crime trends in Warren County throughout this month.Wright City is once again listed among security firm SafeWise’s 20 safest cities in Missouri.The city is listed as the sixth safest in the state based on the number of violent crimes in 2017. Two years ago, Wright City was named the 16th safest city in Missouri in the annual report, and was number 34 the year before that.“It’s another wonderful recognition of the job Chief (Matt) Eskew and his officers have done for our city,” said Mayor Dan Rowden. “They continue to exhibit professionalism and good leadership, and the crime statistics bear that out.”Rowden said the city is proud to offer the service of quality police officers in a time when Wright City is experiencing growth and change. He compared it to his own time as the former police chief of Washington when that city was going through its own changes.“There are always challenges any time your community changes and grows. … But people recognized Washington as a great place to live and work, and I see that same pattern developing in Wright City,” Rowden commented. “I think that our community is positioning itself to be able to handle that and deal with growth.”Crime data for the annual SafeWise report comes from crime statistics collected and reported by the FBI, with 2017 being the most recent year with complete data available. Rankings are based on the number of severe violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape and robbery) per 1,000 residents of each city.Wright City has over 3,500 residents and reported only a single severe violent crime in 2017, according to the SafeWise report. The safety firm also said data showed Wright City experienced property crimes (burglary, theft, arson) at a rate of about 14 crimes per 1,000 residents, or 49 total in 2017.2018 crimes has mixed trendsThe Missouri State Highway Patrol collects uniform crime report data (the same used by the FBI) from cities around the state. Data from those reports shows the only severe violent crimes Wright City experienced in 2016 were three aggravated assaults, and another lone aggravated assault in 2017. Aggravated assault is defined as an attack with intent to inflict severe injury.The highway patrol data is more up-to-date than that used by SafeWise, and includes crime reports through the end of 2018. While that data showed many types of crime decreasing, there was one potentially troubling outlier. Crime data shows four rape cases reported in 2018 in Wright City, while 2016 and 2017 had none.The city also experienced one robbery and one aggravated assault in 2018.In the area of property crime, Wright City saw notable decreases over three years. The number of burglaries in the city have dropped each year since 2016, from 16 down to four last year. Non-motor vehicle thefts dropped from 33 to 24 between 2017 and 2018, while the number of vehicle theft cases dropped to three last year.Police Chief Matt Eskew said it can be difficult to explain trends in crime data, but that the increased presence of officers on patrol is hopefully deterring crimes like burglary and theft. He said mobile computer terminals in officers’ cars have allowed them to stay in the field and file reports remotely, rather than having to return to the office.“We as an agency are striving to be out on community patrols and out in the subdivisions as much as possible,” Eskew commented. “Technology advances are definitely affording officers more time to be out on the road.”Another notable change in crime data is that arrests for drug possession in Wright City more than doubled in 2018, up to 121 cases. Eskew said that could be partly due to additional training for officers in making drug arrests, and potentially is related to a growing population.“With more population, you have potential for a lot of (crimes) to be increased,” the chief added.Wright City is at the front of a wave of population growth along the Interstate 70 corridor in Warren County. Eskew said the city government is getting ahead of law enforcement needs by adding three new officers in 2019.“I’m proud of the (officers) for all the continued work they do,” Eskew commented. “Our officers genuinely care about the community, and we’re always looking for ways to be involved.”WRIGHT CITY BILLBOARD