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Hyrum crime rate up 13 percent By
Jamie Baer
Hyrum's reported crimes from last year jumped 13 percent from the year before, the Cache County Sheriff's Office reported at last night's City Council meeting. Last year the Sheriff's Office received 1,629 calls for service, up from 1,349 the year before. "We are worried about where things are headed," Sheriff Lynn Nelsontold the council, referring to the 124 juvenile problems reported. "That's more than ten a month." Besides the juvenile problems, there were 79 vandalism calls and 90 suspicious persons reported at night. According to Sheriff Nelson, hiring more deputies for the graveyard shift in Hyrum could solve these problems. There was a 54 percent increase in traffic citations in the city, jumping from 926 in 1999 to 1,430 in 2000. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death in Cache County, according to Lt. Kim Cheshire, and last year showed the largest amount of Driving Under the Influence tickets ever issued in a single year. Last year also showed a huge arrest increase, and is still growing, especially as the weather gets warmer. For the first three months of this year, there were very few service calls, which was, according to Nelson, due to the cold weather. As soon as the temperatures rose, however, calls "shot through the roof; a bunch of fair-weather criminals," Nelson said. A major concern the council asked about was the Cache County Jail. The inmate population has been growing, averaging in the high nineties so far this year. At the beginning of April there were over 100 inmates housed in the jail. Last year alone over 50 criminals were turned away due to lack of room. "That's going to be a challenge for the County Council," Nelson said. "It's a huge concern." Hyrum and the County Sheriff's Office are also facing the problem of raves, parties that start around 10 p.m. and go until almost 6 a.m. At the last rave held in Hyrum, six deputies were sent to patrol, and ten arrests were made. It was found that people had traveled from Ogden, and even as far as Salt Lake City, to attend the party. Nelson reported that at 2:30 a.m., a 12-year-old girl was at the party, as were three other juveniles. "It seems to me if there are things we can do to resolve this problem we should be doing them," Mayor Gordon Olson said. Cheshire told Olson that he wants kids to have fun, but is concerned for public safety. After a few whispered words, the lieutenant and mayor planned to meet and discuss the problem at length, hoping to find a solution to the parties, Hyrum's crime rate and safety in general.
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