Crime and Investigations | Crime Prevention
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Every year is different and every day changes quickly at the Hamlin County Sheriff’s Office like the weather does in South Dakota. This year was no different. A new program provided to the sheriff’s office has helped keep track of calls of service and dispatch dates and times. Watertown Police Department has been a great asset to our department by providing the program, computers and dispatch services. In 2012, these services continue to be a helpful tool for our citizens and officers. Last year, Watertown Dispatch received over 1,800 calls for the sheriff’s office. Some of these examples include animal and traffic complaints, crimes, accidents and so on. These calls do not count for the number of calls made to the sheriff’s office during business hours. Officers in 2011 were dispatched to 576 calls of service that were not crime related. Most of these calls were traffic complaints at 142 followed by 911 hang up calls (100), animal complaints (91) and medical/fire emergencies (64), just to name a few. Officers on average spend around 30 minutes per 911 hang up call giving the year total of approximately 50 hours. Most of the department’s calls of service were made during the evening hours (5pm to 12am) at 47% with 39% during the day (8am to 5pm) and 14% at night (12am to 8am). The department was called to and investigated 194 crimes which is down by 23.6% from 2010’s 254 crimes. Most of the crimes were reported in rural areas with 62 incidents, Castlewood at 42, Lake Norden at 39, Bryant with 31, Lake Poinsett at 7, Hayti with 5, Hazel at 4 and Estelline with 1. The office did see an increase in simple assaults by 8.7% as well as resisting arrest, disorderly conducts, thefts and runaways. The largest drop the department saw came in burglaries with a 74.1% decrease and a 66.6% decrease in drug violations. Last year, the sheriff’s office had a normal year for traffic violations with a total of 659 violations which is slightly down from 2010’s 672. December was an active month for traffic enforcement with a total of 60 violations, much higher than the month’s normal average of 29. Overall, September saw the most traffic violations with a total of 82 followed by May and August. The sheriff’s office arrested 11 people for DUI, 417 speed violations, 13 seatbelt violations, 19 driving without a license or suspended, 39 without vehicle insurance, 16 careless or exhibition driving and 13 illegal passing violations. A complete list of violations can be found at our website. The sheriff’s office keeps busy with civil and criminal paper service and the transporting of prisoners besides calls of service, investigating crimes, warrant service and traffic enforcement. Last year the office put on 4,155 miles and spent approximately 115 hours transporting prisoners. Already in 2012, the sheriff’s office has traveled 497 miles and invested 12 hours in transporting. The office also served 244 papers with an average of 20 miles in travel or around 4,880 miles for the year. Sheriff Mack is currently working on about 10 civil executions for 2012 as well as sheriff’s sales.
Our
department remains busy into the new year and will
continue to serve Hamlin County. Remember if you
call outside our normal business hours you will
receive a message; during the message, just press 0
and you will be forwarded to the Watertown Dispatch
Center. Dispatch will get your information and
either dispatch an officer or connect you to an
available officer in Hamlin County. Please call 911
if a serious crime is occurring or to report an
accident. The statistics provided in this report
were calls from the sheriff’s office and do not
count Estelline and Hayti Police Departments or
state agency crimes and investigations. You may
visit our department’s website at
www.hamlincountysheriff.com
for a complete report and charts. Have a great and
safe 2012.
2011 Crimes Against Property
2011 Crimes Against Person
Estelline Crime Report
Hayti Crime Report
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