There were no homicides in the County during 2014 but there were 9 crimes of rape and 3 violent robbery crimes.
The Sheriff Department reported 872 bookings during 2014. This was down by 110 bookings from 2013, a drop of over 11% and also the lowest number of bookings in the last ten years.
There were 94 Domestic Violence cases for 2014. This was a dramatic drop, over 30%, from 2013 with 46 fewer cases and the lowest in the last ten years.
Burglary Reports at 84 cases for 2014 were down from 101 calls during 2013 and again the lowest number in the last ten years of reports.
DUI's at 35 during 2014 were way down from 71 in 2013 and also the lowest in ten years.
Theft Reports were the same as 2013 with 192 reports for the year.
Crimes Against Children at 27 for 2014 was up 1 from 2013.
Vandalism cases at 125 for 2014 were up 11 from 2013.
There were 3,110 Animal Control calls during 2014. This was up slightly with 11 more calls than 2013 and is at the highest level in the last ten years of calls.
When asked about the drop in calls for the year and the general reduction in cases in almost all categories Mariposa County Sheriff Doug Binnewies said the reduction in most categories is nice to see. The reduction in Domestic Violence crime is very positive. Domestic violence has been reducing slightly over the last few years, but this drop is significant. I believe that on-going education and society not willing to condone Domestic violence is the catalyst to this trend. The drop in both Assaults and DV is a good indication that our communities recognize and respect the value of one another.
I also believe that as we continue to climb out of the multi-year recession and the Sheriff’s Office is able to staff itself appropriately to pre-recession staffing levels, that some stats will increase a bit. So the light staffing through the 2014 year has also effected the overall stats. But, what the stats do resemble is that even though we were low on staffing, the community and the Sheriff’s Office enjoyed a positive partnership which was successful in keeping most all crime categories status quo to saw a reduction. This is a win for us.
And in closing, I continue to be very proud of the hard work that the professional men and women of the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office continues to produce in partnership with Mariposa’s many communities. Considering the current unhealthy national tone, we feel very privileged to enjoy such a successful relationship with our communities. Our model works well.
