Crime On The Rise In Wenatchee Valley

Crime is on the rise in the Wenatchee Valley.

Wenatchee Police Chief, Steve Crown, says a report released by the Washington Association of Sheriff’s & Police Chiefs on July 19 detailed the sobering statistics.

“There was an eleven percent increase in crime in 2021 from 2020.”

Crown adds the report reflects several specific categories of crime which have been surging.

“Things like violation of no-contact orders was up 22 percent. Aggravated assault was up 20 percent.  And there was a 50-percent increase in larceny and theft.”

Other crimes that saw a year-over-year increase were robbery – which doubled; Burglary, which marked a 61-percent increase; Motor vehicle theft, which was up 107 percent; And Arson, which tripled from three reports in 2020 to nine in 2021.

Crown says many of the crimes probably increased due to circumstances related to the COVID pandemic.

Aside from the upticks, there were also numerous categories which saw a decrease in occurrences, including fraud and weapons violations.

Crimes involving narcotics also decreased significantly, but Crown cautioned that this is more than likely due to laws passed by the state legislature which minimized certain drug offenses statewide.

Murders remained unchanged from 2020 to 2021, with only one reported each year.