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Show Csti wlajec Crimes ; Emm M UmMlMl By GARY R. BLODGETT BOUNTIFUL - Major crime, for the most part, decreased in 1978 compared to the previous year, but the total number of complaints to , : the Bountiful Police Department Depart-ment continues to spiral. THAT, IN essence, was a report by Bountiful Police Chief Larry Higgins to the city council last week. He said that the number of homicides, rapes, robberies, burglaries and vandalism were either lower or equal to 1977, but that requests for police assistance increased by six percent. TOTAL NUMBER of police department calls in 1978 was 14,304, compared to 13,531 for the previous year. However, 1977s total number of calls increased 19 percent over 1976 and the five-year increase since 1974 has been 33 percent. per-cent. "We still have our problems, but the major crimes are not on the proportionate propor-tionate increase that are represented in most cities," said Chief Higgins. ' HE NOTED that aggravated aggravat-ed assault cases jumped from 52 in 1977 to 76 in 1978 and J theft cases increased from 780 in 1977 to 921 last year. "This brought our overall total of the seven major offenses of-fenses that are tabulated by police departments for national na-tional comparison to an 11 percent increase in Bountiful last year compared to 1977," he said. BOUNTIFUL WENT another year without a single murder or forcible rape, the annual report showed. There has been only one attempted homicide-and no homicide case-in Bountiful during the past five years. There were three forcible rape cases in the city in 1977. Burglary cases dropped from 244 in 1977 to 205 last year, robberies decreased from eight to five during the same period, and auto theft stayed about the same with 43 in 1977 and 47 last year. THE LARGEST increase in ; the "seven major crimes" ; was theft cases which I increased from 780 to 1977 to 921 last year, the report showed. A total of the seven major crimes show 1,254 last year, an increase of 124 over the previous year. THUS, ALTHOUGH the total to-tal number of major crimes is up 11 percent over the previous year, burglaries were down 16 percent and vandalism dropped 15 percent. per-cent. Dollarwise, however, damage caused by vandalism was up 13 percent with a total of $48,433, the chief told the council. CHIEF HIGGINS praised the "persistent, dedicated work of his police officers for "clearing" 31 percent of the major crime cases reported last year in Bountiful. This compares to a statewide average of 25 percent and a national average that is even lower, he said. "Our police officers, by and large, are doing an excellent job," said Chief Higgins. "Our men are really producing, produc-ing, not only while on duty but whenever they see an offense . taking pTace. Their persistence persis-tence and thorough investigations investiga-tions are depicted in the statistics sta-tistics of this report. "DURING THE past year I have been chief here, the officers of-ficers have gone the extra mile in their investigations, resulting in an increase or ai percent in arrests." .' Chief Higgins also praised improved community relations rela-tions and the support of the citizens for increased arrests during the past year. "COMMUNITY aware-' ness has been paying pay-ing off and our report of most crimes has been looking good," he said. Increased auto accidents also took their toll last year, a seven percent increase over the previous year. There were 922 accidents involving, property damage, 134 with personal injuries, and two fatal fa-tal mishaps. OFFICERS ISSUED 7,629' traffic citations last year, a one percent decrease from 1977. |