City Tops County Crime Statistics

By Dustin Kass, dustinKass@miconews.com

Osawatomie appears to have the highest crime rate in Miami County, according to statistics from 2007 released by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation last week.

The numbers aren’t as clear cut as they seem to be, however, said Osawatomie Assistant Police Chief Bob Butters.

The city had, by far, the highest rate of total crime, violent crime and property crime per thousand residents among Miami County cities, the Miami County Sheriff’s Office and the city of Spring Hill, which is classified as a Johnson County city in the report. (The complete statewide report is available on the KBI Web site at www.kansas.gov/kbi/.)

The city’s total crime rate of 57.4 per thousand residents is far above Paola’s rate of 33.5, which is the second highest in the area. Louisburg’s rate is 16.8, Spring Hill’s is 18.3 and the sheriff’s office is 14.9. It also represents a jump from the 2006 rate of 42.6 per thousand.

The difference is even more drastic in terms of violent crimes. Osawatomie’s rate of 5.2 per thousand is more than double the second-highest area rate, which is Paola’s 2.0 per thousand. Five rapes, two robberies and 17 aggravated assaults are listed for Osawatomie, though the report shows zero murders in the city, despite the killing of Cynthia Gonzales in November. Butters was puzzled as to why that did not show up on KBI’s report.

“I don’t know why it’s not on there,” he said.

Osawatomie’s high rates do not accurately reflect real crime in Osawatomie, however, Butters said.

Two factors that affected the city’s rates are the Osawatomie State Hospital and a feud between rival groups from Paola and Osawatomie last year. Butters said all incidents at the state hospital are reported under the city, and those crimes are not uncommon. Additionally, he said the city’s aggravated assault numbers climbed last year because of a running dispute between a group from the city and a group from Paola that featured several violent confrontations.

Butters said the department’s method of reporting crimes also tends to inflate the statistics.

Unlike some other area agencies, Butters said, the department files a report based on the initial report, rather than a final determination of an investigation. For example, if an Osawatomie resident calls into dispatch and reports a rape, the case is filed as such even if the investigation determines that the initial claim was unfounded.

“If somebody comes in to report an aggravated assault, we report an aggravated assault, we cut the paperwork and then we investigate,” Butters said. “Others may investigate and after an evaluation of the crime, then file the paperwork.

“It makes it appear as though we have a higher crime rate than we do.”