South Sound News

Crime decreased in Puyallup in 2018, new police report shows

By Allison Needles, The News Tribune

The city of Puyallup saw reduced crime overall in 2018, according to the Puyallup Police Department. A preliminary report released Wednesday showed that violent and property crime stats decreased. Lee Giles III/The News Tribune  

By Allison Needles, The News Tribune

The city of Puyallup saw reduced crime overall in 2018, according to the Puyallup Police Department.

A preliminary report released Wednesday showed that violent crime was down by 16.2 percent in 2018 compared to 2017.

Property crime was also down 6.9 percent in 2018 compared to 2017.

“We know there is still much work to be done in Puyallup, particularly as it relates to the fear of crime and perception of crime,” the department wrote in a statement on Facebook. “You can count on us to give 100 percent in the year ahead as we seek to serve you — our community.”

Someone sound the Good News alarm! Our crime stats for 2018 versus 2017 are in- unofficially! Here are some stats you...

Posted by Puyallup Police Department on Monday, January 14, 2019

Violent crimes include aggravated assault, homicide, rape and robbery. There was a 15 percent increase in aggravated assault last year, while robbery decreased 37 percent and rape cases decreased 39 percent.

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Property crimes include arson, auto theft, burglary, shoplifting, vehicle prowls/break-ins, mail theft and gas station thefts. Arson increased by 10 percent and auto theft by 3 percent in 2018. Residential burglaries decreased 28 percent, and shoplifting, vehicle thefts, mail thefts and gas station thefts decreased by 7 percent in 2018.

The Puyallup jail housed 2,391 inmates in 2018, totaling 15,693 jail days. The jail averaged about 185 inmates each month, with an average daily population of 43 inmates, a decrease from 45 inmates in 2017.

While celebrating the statistics, the department aims to improve this year. The city approved the hiring of six new officers in 2019 after a staffing study was conducted last year. The study showed how much time officers spent running from call to call and recommended new officers to help with response.

“The six new officers will allow us to create a swing shift that will increase our proactive time during our busy periods and allow us to hopefully address some of qualify of life issues that persist during our peak calls for service times,” Puyallup Police Capt. Ryan Portmann said. “The hope is that officers will have time during the busiest time of the day to hit those spots where we know criminal activity is likely to occur.”

As for crimes that go unreported, Portmann said there’s really no way to know how many there could be and encouraged everyone to report criminal activity.

“We rely on these reports to help us identify hotspots and in turn direct resources to address the hotspots,” Portmann said.

The department encourages citizens to get involved in neighborhood block watches, to lock up their valuables and report suspicious activity.

The full 2018 Puyallup Police Department report will be available some time in March. Reports from 2012 to 2017 are available online at cityofpuyallup.org.

Violent Crime
Aggravated assault:

  • 2017 — 51 cases
  • 2018 — 59 cases

Homicide:

  • 2017 — 0 cases
  • 2018 — 1 case

Rape:

  • 2017 — 28 cases
  • 2018 — 17 cases

Robbery:

  • 2017 — 51 cases
  • 2018 — 32 cases

Property Crime
Arson:

  • 2017 — 10 cases
  • 2018 — 11 cases

Auto theft:

  • 2017 — 231 cases
  • 2018 — 239 cases

Burglary:

  • 2017 — 277 cases
  • 2018 — 253 cases

Theft (shoplifting, mail theft, vehicle theft):

  • 2017 — 2,468 cases
  • 2018 — 2,298 cases

KIRO

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