Centralia Police Chief Stacy Denham told the Centralia City Council last week that year-to-date crime statistics have decreased in many categories throughout the Hub City.
While reports of disorderly conduct, burglaries and trespassing are on the rise, reported shoplifting cases have decreased along with calls for service and the amount of traffic infraction notices issued.
Denham also reviewed crime statistics for 2022 compared to 2021’s numbers, as well as statistics from the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team (JNET) regarding fentanyl seizures in 2022.
Looking at 2023 Year-to-Date Data
Data on crime statistics was presented from 2023 year-to-date — which included both January and February — and then compared to the 2022 year-to-date statistics for the same time frame. According to Denham, crime in general has been on the decline, even if it doesn’t appear that way to some of the people who report crimes.
Denham said the biggest spikes in reported crimes were disorderly conduct and trespassing, which he noted are likely tied to the increasing visibility of homeless individuals locally.
“Visually, (reporting parties) see the people hanging out in (George) Washington Park, they see Blakeslee Junction, they see transients walking around, blocking sidewalks, things like that,” Denham said. “So, they automatically assume that all crime is on the upswing, which actually is not necessarily the case.”
He added many of the “transients” come from other areas of the state and brought up examples of unhoused individuals who were contacted by the Centralia Police Department. Officers later learned they were initially from Longview and Lakewood.
Denham said reports of disorderly conduct rose from 72 at this time in 2022 to 110 in 2023 year-to-date, while reports of trespassing rose from 125 to 167 during the same timeframe.
One crime that experienced a decrease was shoplifting, which went from 55 reports during the timeframe in 2022 to 31 reports so far this year.
“We’re pretty much on pace right now to well exceed over 500 disorderly conducts this year and that can range from just about anything,” Denham said. “Mostly, it’s for people walking in the street, people banging on walls, you name it, causing a disturbance that bothers others to some degree.”
Denham noted despite an increase in reports, there has been a 7% decrease in calls for service, a 9% decrease in traffic infraction notices issued, a 22% decrease in criminal misdemeanor citations issued, a 68% decrease in summons issued and a 23% decrease in warrants served for both felonies and misdemeanors so far this year — all compared to the same time period last year.
Additionally, reports of aggravated assault, fondling, intimidation, arson, purse snatching, theft of motor vehicle parts or items of value in a motor vehicle, extortion, auto theft, and general larceny decreased between the months of January and February in 2022 and the same months in 2023.
There were increases in reports of simple assault by 11% and burglary by 21%, but aside from that, all other reported crimes didn’t see a change during the time frames.
While shoplifting reports experienced a 44% decrease so far this year, Denham said it’s not actually declining.
“It looks like it is trending downwards, it is not. What we’ve been told, businesses that we go to, is they have thrown their hands up,” Denham said. “They no longer report and that’s tragic.”
He explained some local retailers don’t allow employees to report shoplifting anymore while others simply refuse to call because they feel it’s pointless.
Denham said reports on social media have spread the word that some stores don’t report shoplifting anymore, which has led to those stores being targeted.
“We have businesses currently that are losing tens of thousands of dollars (in merchandise), in some cases, monthly,” he said.
Denham told the council his officers have prioritized the shoplifting reports they do get and he encouraged businesses to keep or resume reporting.
Despite seeing significantly less auto thefts so far in 2023, Denham expected a spike sometime this year.
2022 Compared to 2021
Statistics showed crimes increased in 2022 when compared to those of 2021.
There were a total of 15,866 calls for service, a slight increase from the 15,231 calls in 2021. Arrests also increased from 1,592 in 2021 to 1,757 in 2022. Warrant arrests rose from 588 to 812 and summons rose from 608 to 656 from 2021 to 2022. DUI arrests also rose from 62 in 2021 to 73 last year.
One statistic Denham was especially worried about was the seven controlled substance homicides Centralia police dealt with in 2022.
“These are critical as far as I’m concerned, about the health and welfare of our community, and I take a very harsh stance on anybody who’s going to deliver drugs to our community members,” Denham said.
He touched on work done by the JNET. The Centralia Police Department is a member of the taskforce along with Drug Enforcement Agency officers, Chehalis Police Department officers and officers from the Washington state Department of Corrections.
During 2022, JNET served 31 search warrants and conducted 37 drug arrests resulting in the seizure of 566,692 fentanyl pills, 22 pounds of fentanyl powder, 592.25 pounds of methamphetamine, 4.25 pounds of cocaine, half a pound of heroin and 86 pounds of marijuana.
“When I look at 0.5 pounds of heroin seized, that’s actually pretty minimal. Usually, we recover a lot more than that and that is the power of fentanyl taking over,” Denham said.
The amounts of fentanyl were extremely concerning, he said, as fentanyl is deadly. Small amounts can be more addictive than heroin. Even with the overdose risk, Denham said cartels are now mixing fentanyl with the drugs they produce due to its addictive properties.
There were also 22 illegal firearms seized from felons during the JNET search warrants.
