Crime down in North Bend
April 23, 2008
By Ed Farrell
More overtime for deputies and increased citizen vigilance are being credited for an overall reduction in crime in North Bend.
Chief Joe Hodgson, who oversees the King County Sheriff’s Office in the city, said crime statistics are down across the county, but surprisingly so in North Bend.
Reports of violent crime in the city for 2007 show a 22 percent drop from the previous year.
“A lot of it has to do with a bit of an increased presence,” Hodgson said, in part because North Bend city officials authorized additional overtime pay for deputies.
North Bend has a $1.162 million a year contract with the county for police services, according to City Administrator Duncan Wilson.
“The overtime is part of it,” Hodgson said, “but I think you’d find, to a certain degree, crime across the county was kind of tracking down last year. We seem to have been pretty fortunate and saw a good reduction. I think we can attribute much of it to a lot of good work by deputies.”
North Bend has not recorded a criminal homicide since 2004, when restaurant owner Man Hang Chung, 50, stabbed his wife, Kwang Ja Chung, 41, to death in the kitchen of their restaurant before turning the knife on himself.
The city did record three forcible rapes in 2007, up one from 2006, representing the only statistical increase over the previous year. In all other categories of what officials call “Part I” crimes - robbery, aggravated assault, burglaries, larcenies and auto theft - the numbers were down in 2007 from previous years.
Part II crimes, which cover offenses such as forgery and fraud and drug offenses, as well as stolen property, vandalism and violations of court orders, were also down overall.
One area that did show a slight decrease in 2007 from 2006, but still represented a significant number of crimes was vandalism, which Hodgson called a “crime of opportunity.”
Most vandalism arrests, he said, are of juveniles, but unfortunately, most vandalism investigations “are, unfortunately, unsolved or unclosed,” unless witnesses are able to identify the perpetrator.
Another troubling statistic, Hodgson said, was auto theft in the city.
With 19 reported thefts in 2007, the number was actually down from 23 in 2006 and significantly down from 2005 and 2004 with 33 and 34, respectively.
Auto theft numbers are high all over the state and, in King County, the numbers have gotten significantly high.
“It’s a discouraging crime, that’s for sure,” Hodgson said. “It’s definitely an issue, and one we’re working on.”
Hodgson said many crimes are drug-related, such as auto thefts, larcenies and burglaries.
It’s a generally-accepted axiom that drug users frequently commit such crimes, he said.
But arrests for drugs are sharply down in North Bend; only three drug-only offenses were reported in 2007.
Hodgson said part of that is due to recent court rulings that have disallowed some types of arrests that in the past could have involved drug possession.
“But we’re also not seeing the (drug) labs or production that they’re seeing in other parts of the county. Not here in North Bend,” he said.
For all the reduction in crime, Hodgson said the numbers could be even better with increased citizen involvement.
“There’s a lot more citizen eyes out there than deputies,” he said, “and citizens can do an awful lot for us.”
Hodgson said many people are reluctant to call 911 unless it’s an emergency, but they should do so if they spot something suspicious in their neighborhood.
“If you’re looking at a situation and it doesn’t look right, call 911,” he said. “Don’t even hesitate.”
Ed Farrell can be reached at efarrell@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434.
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