Rising Crime Has St. George Police Busy

Thursday, March 21, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

He said his officers are hardpressed to maintain the level of service residents have come to expect. From 1994 to 1995, service calls rose 11 percent, reaching a total of 25,204.

Meantime, emergency response times have increased to an average of five minutes; non-emergency calls take about 20 minutes.

Ideally, officers should reach the scene of an emergency within two minutes of the 911 call and a non-emergency scene within five minutes, Pollei said.

In January, the department expanded its six-district jurisdictional scheme to 10 in an effort to keep officers closer to service calls and speed response times over the 65-square-mile community.

However, the reconfiguration alone won't solve the problem; the department needs more personnel, Pollei said.

Seven officers joined the force last year, bringing the number to 52. There are 1.3 officers per 1,000 residents based on a 40,000 population compared to a state average of 1.87 and a national average of 3.10.

"If we had more officers, we could reduce crime," Pollei said. "Crime doesn't occur where we have officers. They're not going to commit a crime where that police car is, so that in itself is somewhat of a deterrent."

Crimes such as theft, rape, burglary and robbery increased by 10 percent from 1994 to 1995, according to the year-end report. Burglaries almost doubled in 1995. Vehicle thefts rose 28 percent and thefts increased 5 percent.

Increased awareness by residents is one way to cut back on crime, Pollei said.

"We still have these people who feel the community is such they can leave their homes unlocked," he said. "That's not the case and it hasn't been for many years. We need to try to take preventative measures so it's not so easy."