Property crime is rising in Olympia, according to 2022 data. The police chief explains why
The number of property crimes reported in 2022 was higher than it’s been in at least five years, Olympia Police Chief Rich Allen and Lt. Bryan Wyllie said during a presentation to the Community Livability and Public Safety Committee last week.
Property crime statistics were broken down into five categories: vehicle prowls, motor vehicle thefts, retail thefts, residential burglaries and commercial burglaries. The only crime the city saw less of was residential burglary, and only by a small percentage.
There were 566 vehicle prowls in 2022, compared to a 5-year average of 503. Wyllie said 31% of calls were on the west side of the city, near the Capital Mall. He said 85% of vehicle prowls from about October to December were during nighttime hours.
The largest increase last year was in motor vehicle thefts, with 364 reported compared to the 260 5-year average. Wyllie said these include only situations where a person’s entire vehicle was stolen, not just a part.
Council member Yến Huỳnh asked how many vehicles have been recovered every year, as well as why police officials think they’re seeing such an uptick.
Allen said the going theory is people are taking advantage of the statewide restriction on police pursuits. He said people might be stealing cars to get away from having committed other crimes, knowing police can’t pursue them. And OPD had been moving away from vehicle pursuits since before the legislation was introduced, Allen said.
Allen and Wyllie weren’t able to provide any information on how many stolen vehicles had been recovered. Wyllie said in 2022 they responded to more than 2,400 reports of both suspicious people and suspicious vehicles.
Retail thefts, or shoplifting, were up 6% compared to the same period. In 2022 there were 245 reported, compared to the 5-year average of 229. That’s still fewer than what was seen before the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020, but shoplifting incidents are steadily rising as more shops go back to regular in-person schedules.
Wyllie said OPD got together with employees at Target, Lowes, Home Depot and Rite Aid to discuss retail theft operations. They also made two arrests through package operations in 2022, which involve putting tracking locators inside packages that are then stolen.
Council member Dontae Payne asked who OPD is mostly seeing out there stealing from businesses. He wondered if they tracked demographic information and whether there was a large number of incidents involving people experiencing homelessness. But Wyllie said they don’t keep track of that information, just the number of incidents.
“It’s not the mom stealing diapers to support their kid at home,” Chief Allen said. “It’s people selecting items that they can easily make a profit on — that’s what I see.”
Residential burglaries were down in 2022 by 4% compared to the 5-year average. There were 159 incidents that involved homes being broken into and property stolen, but involved no harm to people.
Wyllie said there was a big jump in burglaries last summer, and council member Payne said it may be due to people being out of their homes more often in the summer months. Council member Huỳnh said the city should do more to advertise resources people can use to avoid burglaries. She said there are volunteers with OPD who will check up on your house while you’re not home.
Commercial burglaries, which include construction zones and building projects, went up 28% in 2022 to 207 incidents.
Council member Huỳnh challenged the OPD officials to come back with another presentation in the near future on crimes against people, as well as to highlight some positive things the police are doing for the community.
“I think that it’s really easy, even with the weekly police reports that we get via email, it’s really easy to see all of the negative things that are happening,” she said. “I think that’s just a real human thing, and I would love to see a little bit more in here about what we’re doing, because I know we’re doing so much.”
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