Pubdate: Sun, 17 Jul 2005 Source: Carlsbad Current-Argus (NM) Copyright: 2005 Carlsbad Current-Argus Contact: http://www.currentargus.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2549 Author: Jeff Keller, Current-Argus Staff Writer STATISTICS: DRUG, ALCOHOL ARRESTS UP CARLSBAD -- Arrest records for 2003 and 2004 from the Carlsbad Police and Eddy County Sheriff's departments and the Carlsbad office of the New Mexico State Police show increases in arrests for driving under the influence and drug-related incidents. The state police and sheriff's department showed increases in DWI arrests. The state police had 92 DWI arrests in 2003 and 97 in 2004. The sheriff's department saw an increase of 32 DWI arrests, from 44 in 2003 to 76 in 2004. The police department saw a slight decrease in DWI arrests from 115 in 2003 to 107 in 2004. The sheriff's and police departments saw drastic increases in drug-related arrests between 2003 and 2004. The police department almost doubled its total of 154 drug-related arrests in 2003, making 302 arrests in 2004. The sheriff's department had 70 arrests for drug-related crimes in 2003, but made 123 drug-related arrests in 2004. Lt. Joey Gonzalez of the Carlsbad Police Department said the increase in drug-related arrests comes from an aggressive approach the department has taken toward illegal drugs. "We have a zero-tolerance policy and we have been getting more aggressive with the mayor's anti-drug/gang task force," Gonzalez said. "In incorporating those things, we have put more emphasis in the arrests for the drug-related offenses. By creating our 'rat pack,' which was an initiative from the mayor's anti-drug/gang task force -- that netted a lot of arrests." Arrests for other crimes saw minor increases or decreases for the sheriff's and police departments between 2003 and 2004. For example, larceny -- except for motor vehicles -- rose from 106 arrests for the police in 2003 to 123 in 2004, but burglary or breaking-and-entering arrests for the police fell from 45 in 2003 to 32 in 2004. Gonzalez said it is difficult to tell how larceny numbers will fluctuate from year to year. "It is really hard to track a pattern of larcenies," he said. "You will have them sometimes and then sometimes you won't have them. They go up and they go down. Larcenies and burglaries are all related to drugs and getting a quick fix. If there are a lot of narcotics in town, we know it because there are a lot of burglaries and larcenies going on." Capt. Eddie Carrasco of the sheriff's department said no matter which crime category is high or low throughout the years, law enforcement officers are there to arrest criminals for any crimes. "You are always going to have violators, you are always going to have criminals," Carrasco said. "One year you might see an increase in drug arrests and DUI but the next year you might see less. The increase is not because they (deputies) are trying to see how many they can catch. The increase is because the violators are there. The officers are just as focused as they were the previous year." By The Numbers All arrests listed are for offenders 18 years or older Statistics were provided by the New Mexico State Police, Carlsbad Police Department and Eddy County Sheriff's Department. Note: Eddy County Sheriff's Department statistics are arrest record charges while Carlsbad Police Department stats also include those released without having been formally charged. New Mexico State Police 2003 - -- Total DWI arrests- 92 - -- Total narcotics arrests- 52 2004 - -- Total DWI arrests- 97 - -- Total narcotics arrests- 27 Carlsbad Police Department 2003 Murder: 1 Forcible rape: 2 Robbery: 7 Aggravated assault: 33 Burglary or breaking and entering: 45 Larceny theft (except motor vehicle): 106 Motor vehicle theft: 10 Drug-related crimes: 154 DUI: 115 2004 Murder: 0 Forcible rape: 5 Robbery: 9 Aggravated assault: 49 Burglary or breaking and entering: 32 Larceny theft (except motor vehicle): 123 Motor vehicle theft: 6 Drug-related crimes: 302 DUI: 107 Eddy County Sheriff's Department 2003 Murder: Forcible rape: 1 Robbery: 0 Aggravated assault: 7 Burglary or breaking and entering: 9 Larceny theft (except motor vehicle): 5 Motor vehicle theft: 2 Drug-related crimes: 70 DUI: 44 2004 Murder: 0 Forcible rape: 1 Robbery: 2 Aggravated assault: 10 Burglary or breaking and entering: 11 Larceny theft (except motor vehicle): 5 Motor vehicle theft: 3 Drug-related crimes: 123 DUI: 76 - --- MAP posted-by: Beth