Increased calls a concern for law enforcement

Rape and burglary rates in 2009 were the highest they’ve been in Onslow County in 10 years, according to crime statistics released recently by the N.C. Department of Justice.

Local law enforcement officials said the statistics are based on calls for service and don’t necessarily reflect the crimes actually committed. Since 2001, calls for service have increased by almost 40 percent.

Jacksonville Police Chief Mike Yaniero said even an increase in calls is a concern, especially when the size of the police force has not grown to accommodate a change in population.

“There are more people here than there ever has been,” he said. “We’ve been working to try to address that by redeploying officers — taking officers from desk assignments and putting them on the streets.”

The department recently applied for and received the Robberies/Burglaries Initiative – Detective and PSO grant from the Governor’s Crime Commission allowing them to designate an officer specializing in burglaries and robberies. The grant will also pay the salary of a public service officer who will be hired soon, Yaniero said.

Maj. Donnie Worrell with the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office said the number of burglaries reported to his agency has decreased this year since the arrests last month of several members of a burglary ring that had been operating throughout the county.

“We’ve been working them for about two years now,” he said. “They were responsible for a lot of (the burglaries).”

In a previous Daily News report, Sheriff Ed Brown said his investigators officially confirmed only four more rapes in 2009 than in 2008, despite a 59-percent increase in rapes reported throughout the county.

Worrell said the Sheriff’s Office has not seen any undue strain from the increased number of calls, and there are no plans to change anything within the department.

At JPD, there is a detective in place who handles investigations into sexual assault and rape allegations, Yaniero said.

“The population that generally reports rapes has increased in our area,” he said.

Rape reports are typically made by young adults, and the Marine Corps brings thousands of 20-somethings to the area, he said.

While some rape reports are false, Yaniero said whether it is true or not does not relieve the burden placed on investigators.

“The reason that they reported the rape is not as important as the facts that surround the incident itself, although we do look at the reason,” he said. “We investigate all of those calls to the fullest extent that we can.”

This means that even if a reported rape ends up being something entirely different, time and personnel have already been dedicated to the investigation.

The department has increased rape prevention efforts in recent years, but the number of calls will continue to grow with the population, Yaniero said.

JPD has partnered with Camp Lejeune and the Onslow Women’s Center to provide educational programs about rape for women and children, he said.

“We’re spending a lot of resources on sexual assaults and rapes to try to reduce those,” he said. “That’s the way you do it, by education, by talking about high-risk behaviors.”

In Carteret County, reported burglaries in 2009 increased by about 8 percent from 2008, also the highest number in 10 years.