Annual report offers 'snapshot' of overall crime picture in Nevada

Each year the police departments all over the country publish the statistics from the past year, the city of Nevada Police Department is no different. Each year when the statistics are release they come with caveats.

The wording of the caveats varies little, since each year the reasons for them stay the same. In a small town even small differences in actual numbers make for large changes in percentages, and the changes from year to year aren't as important as the trends that develop over several years.

"Really, we deal with such small numbers that a change of one or two offenses can have a big effect on percentages," Public Safety Director Gary Herstein said. "It's a snapshot really."

Over the past five years incidents of rape have varied from a low of zero in 2005 and 2007 to a high of five in 2006. There were two rapes in 2008, and three in 2009.

The year 2009 saw two murders within the city of Nevada itself. Before that the city hadn't seen a murder in nearly 20 years.

Robberies remained steady with four in each of three years; 2006, 2008, and 2009. In 2005 there were three. Automobile thefts have declined in the past two years after being fairly steady for the three previous years. 2005 saw 42, 2006 saw 46, 2007 saw 40, 2008 saw 30, and 2009 saw 22.

Burglaries have varied between a low of 59 in 2008 to a high of 111 in 2006. The numbers for the five years are: 2005, 93; 2006, 111; 2007, 74; 2008, 59; 2009, 77. Stealing has remained steady and varied only slightly. The five year numbers: 2005, 486; 2006, 550; 2007, 425; 2008, 426; 2009, 483.

Assaults have also declined slightly in the past two years. The numbers: 2005, 267; 2006, 281; 2007, 246; 2008, 205; 2009, 192.

In addition to the major crimes police deal with are the more minor items that receive citations from the officers instead of arrests. As with the crime figures the citations came along with a caveat.

"This software we've been using for the past several years gives citation totals in each category," Herstein said. "It shows everything from animal complaints to parking violations."

Herstein cautioned that the numbers could be misleading, they include more than citations.

"There is one thing to watch out for," Herstein said. "The report includes EROs (equipment repair orders) and warnings in addition to citations. So it's important to keep that in mind."

Speeding was by far the most frequent citation or warning given, there were 1,189 in 2009. The second highest violation was driving a defective motor vehicle, 482 citations. The third most frequent citation was for driving without a license tag in violation of ordinance 19-198; 801 were cited as well as 190 for violating 19-198.1. The fourth most frequent citation was for failing to maintain financial responsibility, 502.

A trio of violations were in the 300 citation range; Failure to stop at a stop sign, 332; keeping to the right, 309; and no driver's license, 301.

In addition to the many incidents where police had to interact with the public in a time of crisis the department is also actively involved in many projects to help citizens avoid problems; the bicycle safety and registration, vacation house checks, neighborhood watch, personal items engraving program, children's fingerprinting, home and business security advice, public speaking on law enforcement issues, after hours security checks for businesses, and career day.