McLean County Crime on the climb
By Stu Merry, BHG News Service
It’s going up and up, and where it will stop, nobody knows. The McLean County Sheriff’s Department is seeing a big increase in its volume of calls for service. The magnitude is keeping dispatchers and authorities hopping. Where there were only 5,380 calls in 2006, the number has more than doubled. In 2011, 12,266 calls were fielded. So far, calls are on pace to reach 16,000. The most recent information from the sheriff’s department shows 4,393 calls have been received this year. Broken down, most calls are from the county’s two largest cities, Garrison (746) and Washburn (1,155). But calls from the rural sector are right up there at 977. That reflects the growth being seen around the lake and oil country in the western part of the county. In 2011, calls for service from the rural areas accounted for about ¼ of all calls for service. Nearly 3,100 calls for service came from rural McLean County last year. Calls for other communities in the county for 2012 include: Max (193), Benedict (40), Butte (27), Mercer (21), Coleharbor (56), Corps area (1), Turtle Lake (146), Riverdale (47), Wilton (335), Bureau of Reclamation land (17), Ruso (17), Underwood (473), White Shield (39), other county (116), special duty (17).
