Breaking news: Crime is up! Bigger crimes are more common in small towns! More people are involved in criminal activities!
I know, I know – crickets chirping. When you see that kind of thing you just nod and shrug your shoulders a bit, and then go back to what you were doing, like sifting through scores on ESPN.com, checking out pillow patterns on Pinterest or Skyping with a friend about the latest gossip from Galveston.
These days, we Americans are all so indifferent to rising crime, we hardly flinch when we see or hear such headlines and it’s easy to sort of remain detached from them and nonchalantly discount what lies behind them. Meanwhile, there are as handful of people whose lives are greatly affected by what lies behind those headlines – and whose actions greatly affect our lives.
I’m of course talking about law enforcement officers, specifically those with the Houston Police Department and Texas County Sheriff’s Department.
As an illustration of what these men and women are dealing with, consider the HPD’s caseload numbers from 2015: The six full-time officers combined to produce a record 718 written reports, up from 600 in 2014, which set a record at that point. A 118-report jump is (to say the least) whopping, especially considering that previous “record” was also a result of the work of six full-time cops.
But finally, consider that the same number of officers also handled the HPD’s 2011 caseload of 489 – also thought to be high at the time.
Of course, the TCSD’s caseload numbers were up, too, in 2015 (way up), as were those compiled by Cabool and Licking police. And perhaps not surprisingly, the increased numbers can be attributed to an overall expansion, as assaults, theft and pretty much every variety of crime experienced more participation.
And of course, the local departments’ situations aren’t unique, but are rather your basic sign of the times. Whatever the reason (whether economics, societal trends, lackadaisical parenting or a myriad of other possibilities), the fact is committing crime is undoubtedly gaining popularity.
With that in mind, I’m fascinated at how manpower shortage is always brought up by police chiefs and sheriffs in these parts whenever they’re involved in a “state of the department” conversation. I’m sure there are multiple rational, meaningful and “fiscally responsible” explanations for that, and I’m not trying to make any point with regard to that (sore) subject.
What I will point out, though, is it’s apparent Houston’s police officers and Texas County’s deputies are faced with a daunting task. And I’ll add that it’s one the rest of us can barely relate to.
Look at it this way: If the amount of metallic parts being ordered at the manufacturing plant you work at increased by almost 50-percent in the past five years, do you think there might be an employee or two more on the production lines?
If the number of customers ordering feed from your store went up about 50-percent in a five-year period, isn’t safe to say another body or two more might be needed to keep pace?
If the customer base of the electric company you work for went up that much in about a five-year period, would it possibly hire on a worker or two to serve everyone?
In almost any example you can think of, a big increase in business over a period of five years would almost certainly result in the addition of manpower. But that’s not necessarily how it works in local law enforcement; if you’re a road officer, you simply deal with an increased load year after year and dig down deeper to keep up.
Every year, I grow more and more aware of what is accomplished by the guys and gals who do that deeper digging locally, and my admiration for what they do has grown at an equal rate. The bottom line is, they do an amazing job juggling, balancing and plowing through an absolutely monstrous load, and we who live here are fortunate for that.
Suffice it to say, I think all of you who don the uniforms bearing the badges of our local county and city law enforcement agencies (and let’s not overlook those in Cabool and Licking) deserve a big “thank you.” There are enough names that listing all of them isn’t really practical, but you of whom I speak know who you are.
Keep up the great work, and we’ll hope some help is on the way.
Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald. Email: ddavison@houstonherald.com.