Sonoma Police Chief Bret Sackett runs down the numbers for city council

Retiring Police Chief Bret Sackett delivered his annual crime report for the last time before the Sonoma City Council.|

When Police Chief Bret Sackett gave his year-end report to the Sonoma City Council at its June 21 meeting, he acknowledged it was the last time he would be delivering the annual update.

“In closing – and in reality it is in closing, as this is the last time I will probably be presenting to council – I do want to thank the council for their support and leadership, and to publicly acknowledge the great work done by our city staff,” he said.

Sackett announced in early June that he would be retiring from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office next month, and with it his role as Sonoma’s chief law enforcement officer. He has been police chief since 2007, three years after the county Sheriff’s Office took over law enforcement in Sonoma.

While the council and audience applauded his efforts and 11 years of service, the headline if any was in the slight but real drop in key crime statistics.

“Despite three separate bank robberies in just weeks here in Sonoma, we did experience a decline in overall crime rate,” the 50-year-old chief told the council. He was referring to incidents at Rabobank on First Street West, and the Wells Fargo and Umpqua banks, both on West Napa, from mid-July to early September.

“Our violent crime fell by 28 percent; and our property crime rate fell by 12,” reported Sackett. “It should be noted that Sonoma is small and we have a relatively low crime rate, so a couple of crimes here and there can (produce) a big swing.”

The raw numbers do show some positive trends. Property crime – including burglary, larceny, arson and auto theft – dropped by almost 20 incidents from the previous year, to 186 in 2017 compared to 212 in 2016. The figures also showed a low of 156 property crime incidents in 2014 to a high of 221 in 2015.

Violent crime likewise went down, from 44 incidents of rape, robbery and aggravated assault in 2016 to just 31 in 2017. But a spike in simple assault – not recorded in the violent crime total – produced a four-year high of 59 such incidents, compared to 2014’s low of 38.

“Even though we did have a decline in our crime rate, I believe there’s still room for improvement,” noted Sackett. “Petty theft continues to be our number one reported crime, and I believe many of those are simply crimes of opportunity.” He urged residents to lock doors and windows to safeguard their property, as a spontaneous “public service announcement.”

The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) statistics, based on a crimes-per-100,000 rate, continue to show that Sonoma is a safer place in both violent crime and property crime than the state at large. “The crime rates reflect what we know, that Sonoma is a great place to live, work and raise a family – we see it every day,” he said.

Sackett also applauded the decrease in the number of DUI arrests, giving credit not only to the popularity of ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft but the department’s own Responsible Beverage Service training to alcohol-serving businesses. And while he didn’t so state to the council, his report document included a caution: “Unfortunately, with the passage of Prop. 64, I am concerned we will see a rise in drugged driving similar to other states that have legalized recreational marijuana.”

Sackett boasted that Sonoma’s clearance rate – crimes cleared by arrest or “other attenuating circumstances” – continued to outpace that of the state’s. He noted that 84 percent of violent crimes and 41 percent of property crimes were cleared, in many cases due to public cooperation with law enforcement. “The little-known secret in law enforcement is that crimes get solved because community members act as our eyes and ears to come forward and report crimes,” he said. “That’s a good indication that we have a strong relationship with our community.”

There was a slight increase in response time of services to incidents – from the time the dispatcher picks up the phone to the arrival on scene of law enforcement. The 2017 response time for the four-year high of 266 calls was 5 minutes, 23 seconds, a slight increase from last year’s 5:16, though down from both previous years of over 5:30 each.

Sackett expressed hope that a proposed “automatic gate” at First Street East could improve response times. That item has been on the department’s wish list for some time – an electronically-locked gate next to the Little League fields that could provide a second exit for responding police so they could avoid the often-congested Plaza to reach the east side. According to Sackett, the new city budget includes $30,000 for the gate.

Other notable numbers from the 2017-2018 year just ending included 99 traffic accidents; 2,365 parking citations issued, primarily in and around the Plaza for “timed violations” of over three hours; seven dog bite reports investigated, 1575 dog licenses issued (an all-time high) and five citations for license violations.

Speaking of dogs, the department maintains a K9 team of Deputy Jeff Sherman and his partner, 5-year-old German Shepard mix named Dickie whom Sackett called “by far our most popular crime-fighter.” He noted that in 2017 there were 33 patrol incidents where the K9 team responded, resulting in 10 suspect surrenders.

“I can’t tell you how important that is to us,” he said. “Because without the canine, there’s a chance some or all of those 10 could have resulted in a use of force between the arresting officer and the suspect. Just the mere fact that people surrender to the presence of a dog goes a long way to making everybody safer.”

But the team also proved useful in other ways. “Our K-9 team had 10 narcotics-related appointments, one of which resulted in the discovery of a large quantity if meth, eight illegally possessed firearms and three arrests,” said Sackett. He was referring to a single traffic stop on May 1, 2017, that lead to multiple charges, many resulting from a subsequent warranted search of the suspect’s residence.

There were few questions from the councilmembers, although Rachel Hundley did ask after the health Dickie, and wondered how long such animals see service. “Typically canines can work as long as six to eight years, so we’re getting close with Dickie,” said Sackett. He mentioned several factors that could affect a dog’s service life, but said, “Dickie looks to be strong, his bark is loud… he’s looking good.”

It fell to Councilmember Amy Harrington to deliver the sign-off. “It’s sort of impossible to imagine who might fill your shoes,” she said. “But we’re so glad we have you now.”

Until July 16, that is.

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