Sheriff reports drug, violent crimes are up

What stood out for McLeod County Sheriff Scott Rehmann in his 2014 annual report to the Board of Commissioners is the increase in controlled substance cases and crimes of violence.
The report shows controlled substance crimes that involved jail bookings increased from 189 in 2013 to 304 in 2014. Crimes of violence are up to 240 cases from 235 last year, and sexual misconduct crimes rose to 42 from 38.
In the report by the Southwest Metro Drug Task Force, there was a rise in search warrants from 49 in 2013 to 83 in 2014. The number of drug-related arrests rose from 75 in 2013 to 120 in 2014.
“When we turn over the officers on the drug task force every four years, it takes a year or two to train, learn and make contacts,” said Rehmann. “The cases take off in their third year.”
Rehmann says there has been a spike in heroin and meth cases, plus new products are emerging such as marijuana wax.
Theft-related crimes rose to 183 from 118 in 2013. Crimes against law enforcement went up from 96 to 108 from the prior year. Under Part 1 crimes, theft is at 48 percent of the calls for service and burglary was at 37 percent.
“Most are crimes of opportunity with people not locking their cars and homes,” notes Rehmann about a trend for property being unsecure.

For more from the sheriff's 2014 report, see the April 15 print edition of The Chronicle.