Offense Summary Report

As your Sheriff, I want to share this information with you. First, I want to thank the citizens for their support which has contributed to the success of the Sheriff’s Office. I want the Sheriff’s Office to continue being the forerunner in fighting crime and keeping the citizens of Cass County safe. Even though Cass County’s population has increased significantly, the most serious crimes have decreased, especially felony drug related crimes. The Sheriff’s Office has concentrated many available resources to combat illegal drug usage and manufacturing. By doing so, the Sheriff’s Office has been successful in reducing the major crimes associated with illegal drugs such as assaults, burglaries, domestic violence, robbery and stealing.

Assaults (aggravated and common) are the lowest since I became sheriff. Burglaries have decreased from over 350 eleven years ago to less than half that in 2008. Domestic violence cases are the lowest in seven years. Stealing in 2008 was the lowest in eleven years. These are a few of the major crimes that have been reduced.

Statistics show us that more contact with traffic violators reduces serious crimes in an area. Increased resources have allowed deputies to self initiate additional contacts with traffic violators, and by doing so, increases the findings of misdemeanor drugs and drug paraphernalia.

Our Dispatch division recorded over 31,000 incidents in 2008 and deputies responded to over 22,000 of those. The remaining 8,900 were handled by other police and fire agencies within the county.

The Jail division processed over 3,500 inmates for the year 2008, with an average daily count of 81.2 per day. I might add there have been no attempts of an inmate escape since the new jail has been occupied.

Our Civil Process division processed over 5,000 court orders in 2008, a number that continues to increase.

The Court Security division screened thousands of items and recovered hundreds of weapons that were not allowed in courtrooms. Although an inconvenience to some, we want to keep everyone safe while in the Justice Center.

The Sheriff’s Office will continue to be responsive to the needs of the citizens through patrol, jail, civil process, court security, investigations, providing neighborhood watch, DARE and other important programs.

~ Sheriff Dwight Diehl