Pubdate: Wed, 20 Apr 2005
Source: Watauga Democrat (NC)
Copyright: 2005 Watauga Democrat Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wataugademocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2322
Author: Jerry Sena

SHERIFF RELEASES 2004 CRIME REPORT

Watauga County Sheriff Mark Shook has released year-end crime
statistics for 2004 and the numbers show advances in the battle
against methamphetamine production even as his deputies fought to keep
their heads above a flood of civil paperwork service requests.

Shook said the fact his department busted 34 meth labs in 2004, the
same number as 2003, marked relative progress in a state where most
counties saw an increase in meth production.

Watauga County had seen increases in meth lab busts every year since
2001, which is generally recognized as the year meth got its foothold
in Watauga County.

That year reported no meth lab busts, largely because law enforcement
had yet to detect their existence.

The following year, 2002, the number crept to five, and 2003 saw an
explosion to 34 meth lab discoveries, the most of any county in North
Carolina.

Shook said while the number of busts did not drop in 2004, deputies
have to look harder to find them, and there are signs meth
manufacturers have either fled the area or been forced into a smaller
area of the county.

"The tips we get now, instead of being widespread all over the
county," Shook said, "now come from mainly two areas."

He said his office has also been getting calls from neighboring
counties which are busting meth producers with Watauga County ties.

Shook said that even as his office made progress against illegal
methamphetamine production, 2004 saw a 33 percent decrease in
misdemeanor arrests and a 12 percent drop in felony arrests from 2003.

The primary reason for the drop in arrests, Shook said, is that his
deputies are spending much of their time dealing with a dramatic
increase in requests for civil summons service, and facilitating
involuntary commitments of the mentally ill.

"The vast increase in subpoenas served has taken a toll on the amount
of time deputies have to self-generate arrests," Shook said.

"Paper service has become a significant time issue for deputies,"
Shook said. "In 2004, deputies served 4,543 subpoenas, an increase of
1,979. Magistrates summons, civil summons, and criminal papers were
all up. Between these three categories there was an increase of 771
papers handled."

Involuntary mental commitments have increased dramatically as well,
from 98 in 2002, to 178 in 2003, to last year's high of 197.

"An involuntary commitment ties up transport officers most of the
day," Shook said. "It's a six-to eight-hour ordeal at the hospital,
while the patient is going through evaluations."

Shook said overcrowding at mental health facilities makes finding
space difficult as well.

"Trying to find a facility to take them can take a couple of hours in
itself," he said.

Shook has indicated he'll ask county commissioners for funding in the
2005-2006 budget to hire more deputies for handling civil and criminal
duties.

The number of drug-related arrests went down from 513 in 2003 to 449
last year, even as the total value of seized drugs nearly doubled,
from $399,129 in 2003 to $781,425.

Shook said a small number of large busts accounted for a large portion
of the drugs seized.

Driving while impaired arrests more than doubled from 2003 (21) to
2004 (44). The 21 DWI arrests of 2003 were more of an aberration, with
the four year average since 2001 closer to 41 per year.

Shook attributed a significant drop in aggravated assaults -- down to
18 last year, from 27 in 2003 -- to the break-up of methamphetamine
labs and drug use in general.

"Almost all of the significant crime is related in some way to drug
use," Shook said, adding that most assaults, including domestic abuse
calls, and property crimes are connected to illegal drugs.

With the exception of larceny, property crimes went down across the
county as well. Vandalism dropped from 325 in 2003 to 275 in 2004,
breaking and entering reports went from 302 to 248, motor vehicle
break-ins also went down, from 39 to 35.

Larcenies saw the only increase among property crimes, going from
2003's 477 to last year's 499.

Watauga County also saw one homicide in 2004, down from two in 2003.
In October, 22-year-old Appalachian State University student Joey
McClure was murdered and his body left on a remote road between
Blowing Rock and Boone.

The suspect in the murder, 21-year-old Marty Lee Thompson, has been in
custody since October as well, but a backlog at the state crime lab,
where forensic evidence is reportedly awaiting analysis, has prevented
a grand jury from examining his case for a possible indictment.

Rapes were reportedly down slightly, from three in 2003 to two last
year. The number of sex offenses has risen steadily since 2001, which
saw 11 reported, to 17 in 2002, 20 in 2003, and 25 last year.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin