The Durango Police Department logged more incidents in 2015 but issued fewer citations compared with the previous year.
The difference was most pronounced in the number of speeding tickets: In 2014, officers issued 1,094 speeding tickets compared with only 680 in 2015, a 38 percent decrease.
Overall, the department recorded 41,330 incidents in 2015, a 7 percent increase from the previous year. But it issued 6 percent fewer citations.
Which raises the question: Is the Durango Police Department becoming a kinder, gentler agency?
Not exactly, said Chief Jim Spratlen.
As for speeding tickets, several factors may have been at play, he said:
The police department was down seven to eight officers in 2015.
More officers were assigned to foot patrol last summer to monitor downtown activity.
Two traffic patrol officers were taken out of rotation last year; one retired and the other was assigned to other duties. Both had been motorcycle officers, which meant they caught a lot of speeders.
Drivers may have been better behaved. Police have a good physical presence throughout the city, which deters speeding. Speed trailers, which show drivers their speed, also act as a deterrent.
“It’s based on so many things,” Spratlen said. “You really can’t put your finger on it because every day we get different calls.”
Police issued 11 tickets for driving 1 to 4 mph over the speed limit in 2014, but they didn’t issue any of those in 2015.
Police also issued more warnings in 2015. Of the 2,401 traffic stops made for speeding in 2014, officers issued warnings 50 percent of the time, said Sgt. Geary Parsons. By comparison, officers made just 1,676 traffic stops for speeding in 2015 and issued warnings 56 percent of the time, he said.
Spratlen said there is no policy shift with respect to traffic control. It is largely left up to officers to decide whether to issue a citation.
“There’s no direct decision to say we’re going to back off,” he said. “I leave it up to the officers. I don’t believe in the officers being robots.”
Not all crimes saw a reduction in tickets issued last year. Some increased.
Police issued 295 tickets for illegal possession of alcohol, a 45 percent increase from 2014. That directly relates to more foot patrols downtown, where there has been an increase in the number of panhandlers and homeless residents congregating, said Lt. Ray Shupe, spokesman for the department.
“They (officers) are walking around, and they’re catching more of that,” he said.
Police also issued more tickets for assault – 104 in 2015 compared with 74 the previous year, a 41 percent increase. Part of that is out of the police department’s control, Spratlen said, but part of it is attributed to walking patrols. If someone is punched during nighttime bar hours, they may go home and blow it off, he said. But if they see an officer on foot, they’re more likely to report it, he said.
“We’re actually finding a lot more people fighting from the alcohol issue,” Spratlen said.
There is always a smattering of unusual crimes that get cited.
In 2014, police issued citations for voyeurism (1), public indecency (9) and loitering (11), none of which was issued in 2015.
And in 2015, police issued citations for mutilation of a flag (1), indecent exposure (4), throwing missiles (1), illegal camping in city limits (2), driving with earphones (1), improper U-turn (3) and stream pollution (1). None of those offences was cited in 2014.
Stream pollution, you ask? No, the Durango Police Department didn’t cite the Environmental Protection Agency for its Aug. 5 Gold King Mine blowout that sent 3 million gallons of orange wastewater into the Animas River. Rather, the citation was issued Aug. 23 south of the Ninth Street Bridge to a drunken man who threw stuff into the river, Parsons said.
Will the trends set in 2015 continue this year?
Spratlen said homelessness isn’t going away, so citations commonly linked to that issue, such as public consumption of alcohol, will likely continue in 2016.
Legal marijuana also is here to stay – at least this year – so it’s likely public-use violations and driving while high citations will rise in 2016, he predicted.
And for drivers with a lead foot: They better slow down in 2016.
“We’re finally getting to where we’re fully staffed and we can staff those traffic positions,” Shupe said.
Said Spratlen, joking: “The traffic unit will be back up and running.”
shane@durangoherald.com
Comparison of DPD citations (PDF)
Citations issued in 2015 only (PDF)
Citations issued in 2014 only (PDF)
