The crime figures are down in the City of Ripon.
Based on the total number of incidents, Police Chief Ed Ormonde said that “for the last eight years of activity, comparing January through June, the total incidents are down 3 percent overall from last year.”
This information came from his 2016 Mid-Year Crime and Activity statistics as reported to the Ripon City Council on Aug. 9.
Police, thus far, reported the tally of total incidents at 11,890 during this halfway point of the year. Of that, 5,692 were calls for service while 6,198 were for officer initiated activity.
Compared to 2009, police had 15,335 total incidents through six months, with 6,436 being calls for service and 8,889 falling under the category of officer initiated activity.
Ormonde said that Uniform Crime Reports Part 1 – in this case, rape, robbery, assault, burglary and larceny theft – had also decreased compared to this point last year.
“Total arrests are down from last year due to less activity at the river and more community response,” he added.
Police are hoping to maintain those low figures come the second half of the year.
The drop in crime rate comes on the heels of the 2015 report that showed serious crime across the board dropped from 2014 levels.
Overall there were 14 less serious crimes in 2015 as they numbered 383.
From 2014 to 2015 assaults went from 110 to 104, burglaries from 31 to 26, and larceny from 225 to 203. Auto thefts did go up from 22 to 31.
Arrests almost doubled going from 867 in 2014 to 1,244 in 2015.
Council, in addition, made note of the following:
uUnmanned Aircraft Systems ordinance – In this second reading and adoption of the law for drones and other unmanned aircraft systems, Councilman Mark Winchell was able to get the change from 500 feet instead of 100 feet of a person operating “any Model Aircraft or Civil UAS within the City of Ripon.” This includes sporting events, festivals, and fairs.
uMassage / Massage Businesses – In the final adoption of this ordinance, Winchell asked staff if more could be done to those found doing any sort of lewd acts. According to City Attorney Tom Terpstra, this would depend on the nature of the event as to whether criminal proceedings are sought.
uBlossom Express Operation Funds – Elected leaders approved the Measure K Renewal Cooperative Agreement necessary to receive the $50,000 funding for the Blossom Express transit service, from July 2016 through June 2017. “If (what’s leftover) the money stays in the City,” said City Administrator Kevin Werner, who added that Measure K funding here is ongoing for another 25 years. “It could be used for other capital purchases that pertain to transportation.”