Riley County commissioners were briefed on 2015 crime statistics for their first meeting of 2016 Monday morning
As reported before, vehicle thefts were the major concern.
Riley County Police Department Lt. Luke Breault told commissioners numbers for that genre of crime were up over 2014’s total.
“We saw a distinct rise in vehicle thefts and vehicle burglaries in 2015,” Breault said. “In 2014 we had around 30-some vehicle thefts and (in 2015) we’re projecting that will be around 85.”
Breault said when it comes to vehicles broken into, the RCPD is projecting there were 1,440 — an increase of roughly 12 percent.
There have been some positives, though.
“The good news,” Breault said, “is that we’ve made several arrests throughout the year for both offenses and we think the increase in the numbers is more circumstantial, rather than anything we see as a pattern.
“We knew that we had a handful of groups that were committing vehicle burglaries, and like I said, we made arrests that we think should impact that situation.”
Commissioner Robert Boyd asked Breault what’s caused the spike in numbers.
“Lieutenant, what’s their methodology for stealing these vehicles?” Boyd asked. “Do they have keys in them? Are they unlocked? What’s the deal?”
Breault said there were some individuals who were targeting specific vehicles due to their knowledge of the vehicle’s ignition systems, but added that many cases were just cars being left unlocked.
“There are several instances where people have left keys in vehicles,” Breault said. “Of course we try to discourage that behavior and always recommend you lock your vehicle and take your keys inside with you.”
In other items, county treasurer Shilo Heger announced that Riley County is now a full-service commercial vehicle station, meaning that the county can now register new and existing interstate and interstate fleets.
She said all commercial fleets must be renewed by Feb. 29 and that commercial renewal postcards were mailed out to existing customers by the State in December.
Questions can be sent to Heger’s office by calling 785-537-6320. Heger also recommended www.truckingks.org as another resource.
Finally, commissioners said the search for a new health department director is still ongoing.
Boyd said there has been plenty of interest in the position since former director Brenda Nickel announced her resignation in November.
Nickel left to take a newly-created risk management director position with the Flint Hills Community Health Center in Emporia, which is located closer to her home. Lisa Ross, the health department’s WIC supervisor, has been serving as the interim director.
“We’ve got some good applications,” Boyd said.
Boyd said there’s no certain time frame to fill the position.
“We don’t have any time frame for that,” he said. “We want the process to go forward and we have a good interim director, there, so we’re pretty comfortable. We’re going to take our time and get it right.”
