PCSD showing gains on burglary clearance

With only a few weeks left in 2021, the Perry County Sheriff’s Department is nearing a five-year high in terms of clearance rate on burglary reports. As of Dec. 1, the sheriff’s department has cleared 11 of 13 burglaries, meaning charges have been filed in all but two of those reports, a clearance rate of 84.61 percent.
The U.S. average for burglary clearance in 2020 was 14 percent, according to data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau and FBI, which means Perry County’s burglary clearance rate in 2020 was 5.3 times better than the national average and in 2021, using the same clearance rate of 14 percent, the county would be six times better than the national burglary clearance average.
Crimes can be cleared through an arrest in which a person is charged and the case turned over to a prosecutor or via exceptional means. This occurs when law enforcement identifies the offender, gathers evidence to arrest, charge and prosecute, identified the offender’s exact location or come against a circumstance which is outside the purview of law enforcement which prevents an arrest and prosecution from being made.
Schaaf said since there are a few weeks left in 2021 it may still change the numbers. “We are on track to have another successful year,” Schaaf noted. “I remember when I started as sheriff in 1993 the numbers were much higher, and the clearance rate much lower. It seems the number of reported burglaries were in the 60’s when I first took office. It has taken a lot of hard work and dedication to bring those numbers down to the current level.”
Those who commit a burglary are charged with a felony. There are different degrees for this depending on several factors, such as were the any occupants in the building when it was burglarized and did the burglar have a weapon on them at the time.
It is possible to commit a burglary and be in the process of attempting to commit another crime and not get charged with those additional crimes. The criteria for burglary is “entering unlawfully into a building or inhabitable structure with the purpose of committing a crime therein.”

Schaaf provided a few scenarios in which there can be a burglary committed: if someone broke into a home and assaulted someone, but did not steal anything, they are still guilty of burglary. If someone broke in to steal something, but then got interrupted and left without anything, they would still be guilty of burglary.
For 2021, Perry County has had 21 reports of stealing, or theft, of which 17 of those incidents have been cleared. This is a clearance rate of 80.9 percent for 2021.
Schaaf said one strategy he has used in recent years is to concentrate on illegal drug crimes along with burglary investigations. “It seems that where you have burglaries, you often have drug crimes as well, and it’s a way to help us get those people off the streets,” Schaaf said.
Drug arrests in Perry County from 2017-2021 are as follows: 2017, 184; 2018, 258; 2019, 321; 2020, 207; 2021, 158.
The annual average for drug arrests since 2017 is 225.6, though the county has below that level for both 2020 and is on pace to be well below that in 2021.
While there are a little more than 21 days left in 2021, this year’s number of illegal drug arrests is 23.67 percent down from last year and 29.96 percent lower than the county’s five-year average.