Sheriff’s Office touts new task force

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office issued statistics Thursday indicating that an on-going effort to target criminals responsible for residential burglaries has begun to pay off.

Sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Craig Chamberlin said reported burglaries have decreased in unincorporated Spokane County by about 8 percent when comparing June’s numbers to those reports from July of this year.

And the drop is about 40 percent when comparing the first two weeks of July compared to the first two weeks of August.

In Spokane Valley, where the sheriff’s office contracts police services, that same July to August time period saw a 27 percent decrease in burglary reports.

“This decrease … shows the success of the implementation of the Sheriff’s Office Burglary Task Force,” Chamberlin said. “This decrease is also directly associated with citizens of Spokane County providing investigators with valuable, continues tips all summer long.”

Investigators rely on residents calling in suspicious activity in their neighborhoods.

“Without this type of ongoing assistance … it would be very difficult for the Sheriff’s Office to achieve this type of decrease with any type of crime in our community.”