| Salt Lake City |
 |
 |
| GER |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
 |
| USA |
10 |
13 |
11 |
34 |
|
| NOR |
11 |
7 |
6 |
24 |
|
| CAN |
6 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
|
| RUS |
6 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
|
| AUT |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
|
| ITA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
|
| FRA |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
|
| SUI |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
|
| NED |
3 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
|
|
|
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Crime isn't up — it's down
By Pat Reavy
Deseret News staff writer
At the halfway point for the Olympics, local law enforcement officers are saying so far, so good. In fact just about every agency along the Wasatch Front says, from a police standpoint, the Olympics have been pleasantly uneventful.
Fears of an expected rash of pickpockets, car burglaries and prostitution have not materialized.
"We were anticipating there would be more calls, and it's just the opposite," Salt Lake police Sgt. Fred Louis said.
Louis said it's not just Olympic-related crimes that are low, but crime in general is down around the entire city.
Between Jan. 1 and Feb. 13, 2001, 27,743 calls were placed to Salt Lake police. Of those calls, 8,594 required an investigation and a case to be filed. Three of those investigations were for homicides.
In the same period for 2002, there were 26,932 calls for service, or 811 fewer calls despite the influx of people for the Olympics. Of those calls, 7,523 cases were investigated, or 1,071 fewer than the year before. Salt Lake City has had no homicides so far in 2002.
Robbery, auto theft and burglary were all down between Jan. 1 and Feb. 13, 2002, compared with the same time period last year, according to Salt Lake police statistics.
"It's a sigh of relief. We didn't know what to expect" before the Olympics, Louis said.
But police officers haven't just been standing around for the past week and a half. Louis said officers have been busy responding to calls of suspicious people and suspicious packages and will continue to do so.
"There is no reason for us to put our guard down. And visitors still need to be vigilant and aware," Louis said.
Other police agencies are reporting a similar story. The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office is reporting 2,990 calls for service one week prior to the Olympics between Feb. 1 and Feb. 7. During the first week of the Games between Feb. 8 and Feb. 14, there were 3,010 calls for service.
From Feb. 1 to Feb. 14, 2001, there were 5,967 calls for service, according to sheriff's statistics, compared with the 6,000 calls this year. Considering the extra people in the county for the Games, sheriff's Sgt. Shane Hudson said it has been slower than expected.
"We were expecting it to be busier and hoping it wasn't," he said.
Aside from minor traffic congestion around the Olympic Ice Oval, Hudson said it has been slower than expected. But like Salt Lake officials, he said that's no reason to let down.
It's a similar story in Murray, where detective Rob Hall estimated the calls for service one week into the Olympics, compared to the prior week, were down 15 percent.
Both Hudson and Ogden Police Lt. Scott Conley believe the increased presence of officers on the street and the public awareness campaigns launched before the Olympics have helped in keeping the crime rate down.
Conley, who noted that Ogden's volume of calls had also dropped during the Olympics, said the increased police force and the cooperation between the agencies have been tremendous in both deterring crimes and solving crimes quickly. More wanted people are being spotted and arrested and more stolen vehicles are being recovered, he said.
"I can't believe the cooperation between agencies," he said. "There's a faster response between agencies."
"Everyone just seems to be having a good time and enjoying the Games," Louis said.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com
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February 16, 2002
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