Viewpoint: It's Hard to Find Local Crime

?One of the comments we get frequently in feedback from our subscribers is a desire for more information on existing crime.?But we also get a lot of comments indicating our readers don’t want to read about crime in other parts of Pueblo County.

?As we peruse the crime information provided to us from the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO), we always put crime in the valley front and center.?As you see each week, there is very little crime to put front and center.??

?There are several possible explanations for that.?First, there is very little crime in the valley.??Secondly, local crime isn’t reported.?Thirdly, local crime is only reported on social media.?And finally, the PCSO is withholding stories of local crime.?Conspiracy.

?I suspect, thankfully, it is the first one.?There is negligible crime in our community.

?Nationwide, crime was up in almost every category in 2020, compared to 2019. Phoenix had 200 homicides in 2020, vs. 139 in 2019.?New York City had 462, compared to 319 the prior year.

??In Denver homicides went from 63 in 2019 to 95 in 2020.?Aurora had 43 murders compared to 30 the year before.?Colorado Springs had 39 last year compared to 24 in 2019.?That’s an increase of 63%.?Pueblo County had 13 homicides in 2020, compared to a dozen in 2019.?In the part of the county patrolled by the PCSO there were three homicides compared to two the year before.

?The national crime rate increase is being touted as the result of efforts by various interests to handicap, reduce or eliminate law enforcement.?And, well, that might be true.?But the statistical data in comparing crime in 2020 to crime in 2019, when we were all incarcerated, should be taken with a grain of salt.

?Locally, (PCSO) the following crimes went up the most in 2020 vs. 2019:?intimidation and arson went up 200%, both increasing by two;?hacking and computer invasion went up 100%;?credit card or teller machine fraud went up 33%; burglary and breaking and entering went up by 10%; and vandalism went up by 10%.

?Five crimes that went down, dramatically, in 2020 vs. 2019 included DUI’s, which dropped 99% (decreased by 88); simple assault, down 21% (dropped by 42); drug and narcotic violations decreased by 54% (41 less cases); trespass of real property was down 29%, and aggravated assault was down 37% (decreased by 14).

?Realize that in the non-Pueblo part of the county some numbers were down that were not down county-wide.?For instance, aggravated assault was up 11% in Pueblo.?

?Logically, some crimes jumped dramatically as the pandemic eased.?It probably won’t surprise you that the number of break-ins was really low in 2019 while everyone was confined to their house.

?Bottom line for our little corner of the world, in 2020 there were 1,855 reported incidents vs. 2,022 the prior year.?In 2020, 21.73% of those were cleared, a little less efficient than in 2019, when 25.07% were cleared.?

?In 2020, 439 arrests were made, while in 2019 that number was 618.?Crime for last year was down 8.3% in areas patrolled by the Pueblo County Sheriff.??

?According to Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor he’s not sure why his numbers fly in the face of national statistics.?He feels that he and his team continue to do their job each and every day, but also feels that in 2019, because of the COVID virus, things were strange.

?Regardless, you and I are the ones who benefit.?Well, most of us benefit.?For those of you who want to read about more local crime each and every week, we, at the Greenhorn Valley View, are sorry.??

?And I suspect we are all grateful for the job Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor and his team do.?Considering the national attitude toward law enforcement, it might not be a bad idea to pass on that thanks to the men and women keeping us safe.