HPD crime trends are down, but recent calls concern the chief

By Terry Murry on Tuesday, August 24th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

HERMISTON – Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston says there’s good news as far as the crime rate goes, but he still sees some disturbing trends.

“In looking at the 10-year window, looking at the eight uniform crime reporting categories, it shows us down 20 percent from the 10-year average, and this is despite approximately 15 per cent in population growth.”

The eight crime categories are homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, auto theft and arson.

“Those numbers are what we want to see, but we know just through the types of calls our officers are responding to that society in general has become a bit more unstable,” he said.

That instability comes from a mix of things in Edmiston’s eyes. “That can be attributed to many things, be it controlled substances, or decriminalization of controlled substances, or just stress from being cooped up indoors,” he said. “The last 18 months hasn’t been fun.”