Positive trend for Niles police
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NILES -- It's no secret 2020 was a tumultuous time for many people.
For Niles police, however, things calmed a little compared with previous years.
"Law enforcement has always been a challenging profession, but 2020 made it even more so," Chief Jay Holland wrote in the department's annual report. "The Niles Police Department was, at times, forced to change some operational procedures to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic."
In most areas, reported crime was significantly lower than in 2019 or 2018.
Most notably, the city saw zero homicides in 2020 compared with three in 2019 and two in 2018.
Holland said the city doesn't necessarily have many violent crimes. He said the inclusion of the street crime unit is a huge benefit, as well as the cooperation of residents.
"We're very fortunate to have that cooperation," Holland said.
Although the department's dispatch calls were up by nearly 1,500, various crimes were reportedly lower.
Thefts, overdoses, assaults and domestic disputes were all lower than in previous years. Thefts dropped to 372 from 415 in 2019 and 469 in 2018. Overdoses were down to 101 from 107 in 2019 and 102 in 2018.
Assault reports saw a significant decrease to under 100. The city reported 141 in 2019 and 124 in 2018.
There were two categories, domestic violence charges or arrests and burglaries, that did see an increase, however. Burglary charges were up to 49 -- nine more than reported in 2019, but 13 fewer than 2018.
The domestic violence charges or arrests jumped to 112 last year. In 2019 and 2018, they were 80 and 81, respectively.
"With people being in isolation or quarantined, they don't have the social outlets they could traditionally use," Holland said. "Without those outlets, those individuals can turn on each other and the pandemic attributed to it."
NEW CHANGES
A bright spot Holland noted in the report was the number of times officers needed to use force. He said officers only had to use physical force eight times during calls for service.
This means officers had to resort to using force only .0005 percent of the time, Holland said.
"I think this is an amazing statistic that counteracts some of the current narrative about policing. This low number of use-of-force incidents also speaks to the quality of our officers and their training," Holland said in the report.
The department also hired two patrol officers, Wesley Washington and Zachary Zigmont, as well as "almost completely modernizing the patrol fleet."
Three 2020 Ford Explorer Interceptors were purchased last year.
UNIT PROVIDES RESULTS
In the latter half of 2019, Holland and the department were able to create the street crimes unit to be dedicated to addressing potential hot-dspot areas for drug trafficking or that may have drug houses.
Last year was the first time the unit worked for a full year, turning in "impressive results" according to Holland.
The unit seized 34 units of heroin, 30 units of methamphetamine, 46 units of marijuana, 11 units of crack/cocaine, 16 units of scheduled prescriptions, 11 units of ecstasy and other psychoactives, and two units of LSD.
Holland said he is "absolutely proud of the unit."
Also, two illegal firearms were seized last year along with 52 drug abuse instruments.
The unit served 97 arrest warrants, executed two search warrants and issued 134 drug-related citations, as well as seizing more than $16,000 in cash.
Holland also noted in the report the street crimes officers participated in more than 40 federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization cases, making arrests in Niles as well as other jurisdictions. Three cases were eventually turned over to the Drug Enforcement Agency resulting in federal prosecutions.
Another newer program, Judge Christopher Shaker's Niles Addiction Recovery Program, saw lower-level arestees join the program to seek treatment.
Having the program is a benefit to the department, Holland added.
"It's nice to have an option rather than incarcerating these people. We can get them treatment and it could deter addiction," he said.
nhawthorne@tribtoday.com