2012
Arvada Police Department Annual Crime Report
Chief of Police Don Wick
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Executive Summary Citizens requesting police assistance increased (12%). Police officer initiating contact with the public or communication center is showing a 25% increase compared to the five year average. Consistent with previous years, there are generally more officer-initiated calls compared to citizen-initiated. The most frequent officer-generated contacts involve traffic stops, building safety checks, case follow up and suspicious vehicles. The most frequent citizen calls tend to be disturbances, suspicious activity, domestic disturbances and traffic accidents. Reported crime has been below the five year average since 2009. Overall, crime in Arvada decreased by 7% compared to the five year average. In 2012, there were fewer simple assault, arsons, vehicle thefts, robbery, vandalism and drug incidents. There were increases in aggravated assault (2%), sex offenses (5%), burglary (1%), fraud (15%) and stolen property (57%). When comparing 2012 reports of crime to 2011, violent crime decreased by 7%, property crime did not change and society crime increased 7%. In addition to criminal reports, the police take reports for non-criminal events. Field contacts, domestic disturbances and mental health hold reports are the most frequent non-criminal reports. Significant decreases were noted for information reports, detox holds and runaway reports. Officers arrested 4085 individuals in 2012; the most frequent charges were for petty theft, DUI and marijuana possession.
2012 Annual Crime Report
ARVADA POLICE AT A GLANCE IN 2012‌..
POLICE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
Deputy Chief Operations
Communications Bureau Administration Bureau
Internal Affairs
Chief of Police
Criminal Investigation Bureau
PIO, Ex. Sec & Ralston House
Patrol Bureau Animal Mgmt. Unit Deputy Chief Field Services
Police Service Technicians Crime Analysis
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In this report, you will find police department statistics for 2012. We have also gathered statistics from previous years to reflect how different categories of crime and quality of life activities have been increasing or decreasing from previous years. Three types of police statistics are collected for the annual crime report – calls for service, incident reports (criminal/non-criminal) and arrests. Calls-for-service – Instances when a citizen contacts the police department for assistance, or a police officer initiates contact with the public or communication center. Incident reports - Incident reports are calls for service that require a more than an initial response to a call. A criminal report involves a violation of the criminal code. The situation may involve an investigation, which sometimes leads to the arrest of a suspect. Incident reports are also used to record non-criminal calls for service, such as disturbances, field contacts and domestic disputes.
Calls for Service The Communications Center has 19 full-time dispatchers: 3 dispatcher supervisors and 1 communication manager who provide service twenty-four hours a day/seven days a week to the community. The dispatchers process numerous calls, both emergency and non-emergency. For example, 20 individuals may call regarding one accident; however only one documented call for service is generated. The Arvada Communication Center received 118,048 documented calls for service in 2012. In 2012, there were 12% more citizen requests for service. Police officers initiating contact with the public is showing a 25% increase compared to the five year average.
2012 Annual Crime Report OFFICER-INITIATED CALL TYPES: The table below shows the most frequent types of calls that officers responded to in 2012 compared to 2011. The call types below shows the most frequent types of encounters a police officer has with the community.
In 2012, officers initiated more traffic enforcement and traffic stops, checked on premises more often and increased citizen assists. The only top ten call type to decrease was special assignment.
CITIZEN CALL TYPES: Below are the most common types of citizen requests for police assistance for 2012 compared to 2011.
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Report of Crime The offense categories below are used to track crime not only in Arvada, but crime at the state and federal level. The Arvada Police Department participates in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). To meet the requirements of this program, data is sent to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) every month. The following table compares crime in 2012 to the previous 5 year average. Unfounded events are not included in the table below. The ↑ ↓ symbols indicate crimes that are higher or lower than the normal range.
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CRIME IN ARVADA The city of Arvada’s overall reported crime has been below average for three years and crime in Arvada decreased by 7% compared to the five year average. However, crime increased by 9 offenses when compared to 2011.
Person Crime Crimes against persons (e.g., assault, homicide, kidnapping and sex offenses) involve physical force against another person. These types of crimes are often referred to as violent crimes. Crimes against individuals decreased 7% in 2012 compared to the five year average. There were nominal increases in aggravated assault (+2) and sex offenses (+5).
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Assaults An assault is defined as an unlawful attack by one person on another. The difference between an aggravated and simple assault involves the degree of potential injury/death. An aggravated assault is usually accompanied by the threat or use of a weapon that could lead to severe bodily injury (e.g., laceration, broken bones etc.). Overall, aggravated assaults increased by 2% when compared to the five year average. Averages are influenced by low numbers; 2010 yielded one of the fewest numbers of reported aggravated assault (65 cases). There were 94 aggravated assaults reported to the Arvada Police Department in 2012; one less than in 2011. 39% involved personal weapons, 21% involved a knife or cutting instrument and 18% involved a gun. 33 incidents involved a domestic dispute. October had the most reports (12). 71 incidents resulted in an arrest or clearance.
Simple assaults are assaults where no weapon has been displayed and the victim does not suffer severe bodily injury. For this report, incidents in which the victim feels
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threatened or intimidated without experiencing a physical attack were included in the simple assault category. Simple assaults decreased by 58 incidents (13%) compared to the five year average. Simple assaults normally range between 417 – 446 incidents per year. 86% of assault reports are cleared with an arrest or due to exceptional circumstances. To clear by exceptional circumstances, there must be a reason outside the control of law enforcement which prevents an arrest (e.g., death of offender, in custody in another jurisdiction). 178 of the 374 simple assaults involve domestic relationships. Arvada averages 31 simple assaults per month. The highest number of reports were taken in June (36).
Property Crime Property crimes include incidents involving arson, fraud, robbery, theft and vandalism. These crimes are considered to be less serious than crimes against persons, which are usually violent by nature. According to NIBR guidelines, robbery is considered a property crime since it involves the taking or attempting to take anything of value under confrontational circumstances; however, it is most often considered a persons crime in the law enforcement community since the victim is threatened by force and fears immediate harm. For the past two years, property crime has been on a decline. In 2012, property crime dropped by 9% compared to a five year average. There were significantly fewer thefts from vehicles and incidents of vandalism in 2012. Fraud and stolen property, which are often related to one another, continue to increase.
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Fraud The following two categories represent most Fraud in Arvada: Id theft or identity fraud refers to crimes in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data (e.g., name, date of birth, social security number, driver’s license number, credit card). Swindling is the use of some other deceptive scheme or device, to obtain money, goods, or other things of value. It includes Craig’s List and contractor cons, schemes involving sending money to get money and failing to return rented property.
Identity theft schemes are planned and executed using pieces of personal information, like a social security number. Popular types of identity theft are credit card fraud, using victim information for a service or to open an account in the victim’s name.
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Stolen Property Violation Stolen property offenses involve the receiving, buying, selling, possessing, concealing, or transporting any property with the knowledge that it has been stolen from another jurisdiction. Stolen property violations increased 57%, from 38 in 2011 to 60 in 2012. Vehicles account for the majority of property recovered. It is not uncommon for the individuals arrested to be in possession of drugs and paperwork belonging to unknown victims.
Society Crime Crimes against society (e.g., drug violations, weapon offenses and prostitution) represent society’s prohibitions against engaging in the those activities. This type of crime is unique because it does not involve an individual victim or the taking of property. Even though society crime is showing a 52 case increase from 2011; it is still below the five-year average of 971 cases.
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Drug Violations Drug violations make up the majority (95%) of society crimes. The drug offenses involve individuals who have possessed, distributed or manufactured drugs and those who have been in possession of drug paraphernalia (pipes, bongs etc.).
Drug offenses are violations of laws prohibiting the production, distribution, and/or use of certain controlled substances and the equipment or devices utilized in their preparation or use. Overall drug offenses have decreased 16% when compared to the five year average. Arvada had 460 drug violations, the majority involving marijuana, followed by methamphetamine and heroin. There were 323 drug paraphernalia violations, resulting 384 pipes, bongs and syringes seized in 2012. There were 704 arrests for drug violations in 2012. 266 (38%) were less than 18 years old 109 (15%) were 18 or 19 years old. 209 (30% were 20 to 29 years old.
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Crime, Disorder & Quality of Life In addition to the crimes reported previously, officers take reports for many other types of crimes. Reports are also taken for non-criminal events, such as field contacts, found property and domestic disputes. Most of these reports reflect the general well-being of individuals and quality of life in Arvada. Field contacts or subject stops, domestic disturbances and mental health hold reports are the most frequent non-criminal reports. Assists to other agencies, which can cover a wide variety of circumstances increased by 54%, with 254 reports in 2012. Reports of suspicious incidents continued to increase for the second year; with 321 incidents. Significant decreases were noted for information, detox holds and runaway reports.
Arrest in Arvada Total arrests (4085) include both summonses and physical arrests. Of those arrested: 78% were eighteen or older. The youngest person arrested was 10 (Arson) and the oldest was 84 (Harassment). 2981 were men and 1104 were women. 55% live in the city of Arvada.
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We hope that you have found the 2012 Arvada Police Department Annual Crime Report both interesting and informative. We believe that this report serves as another important avenue of communication between you and the Arvada Police Department. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions to improve our Annual Report, please do not hesitate to contact the Crime Analysis Unit at the Arvada Police Department.
Police Contact Numbers: Non-Emergency: 720-898-6900 Office of the Chief: 720-898-6650 Records Department: 720-898-6920
The Arvada Police Department Web Site www.arvadapd.org
On our website you can: View crime prevention tips View crime statistics Report a crime Order a crime report, photos or dispatch CD Make an online minor traffic accident report Get information about crime in Arvada at www.RAIDSonline.com or www.CrimeReports.com. Apply for a job with the Arvada Police Department Learn about crime prevention Learn about breaking police news Submit a compliment, complaint or request for clarification Contact a School Resource Officer Request a vacation watch
Crime Analysis Contact Information Nora Bensko: 720-898-6940 (Tue, Wed, Thu & Fri) Susan Land: 720-898-6941 (Mon, Tue, Wed & Thu)