The Friendswood Police Department’s 2020 comprehensive crime report reflects the long shadow cast by the coronavirus pandemic.
Overall, the news is good in that the city’s overall crime rate decreased by 1 percent, dropping to 7.08 per 1,000 residents out of a population of 41,683, despite that use of the new National Incident Based Reporting System, which records multiple offenses from a single criminal episode instead of just the most serious offense, as was reported under a previous system.
“In April 2020, specifically, people stopped going to work, they stopped driving their cars, they stopped moving around the city and crime also stopped,” the report states.
But arrests on driving under the influence charges spiked during the year, surging after quarantines ended. The 345 DUI arrests represented a sharp increase from 2019’s 284 arrests on that charge. The highest number of arrests were during October (44) and November (42).
Police officers are now noting on their arrest reports where suspects got their alcohol, and that’s reported to the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission, indicating which bars and restaurants may be violating its rules.
Of all the arrests in the city, a whopping 75 percent were people who had addresses outside the city.
But in virtually every category, the police essentially apply an asterisk, calling out the pandemic throughout 2020 as a driving force to either decreases and increases in a category.
For the fourth consecutive year, there were no murders committed in the city. The last murder reported on the police blotter occurred in 2016.
In all, there was a 19 percent decrease in the number of arrests, with only seven arrests reported during April..
Among the numbers recorded, the report lists 172 simple assaults and 26 aggravated assaults. Under the category of larceny and theft offenses, the city had a mere 25 shoplifting calls, which is surprising considering the many stores within the city’s boundaries. As one would expect, December led the way in shoplifting cases with six.
There were 40 calls for burglary/breaking and entering, 32 for counterfeiting/forgery and 30 cases for destruction of property.
There were no cases of investigation for animal cruelty.
The Friendswood Chamber of Commerce will have its first busy time of the new year the week of Jan. 24-30. There will be an Ambassador Team Lunch on Jan. 26 at 11:45 a.m., followed by a ribbon cutting for Nxgen Air, 207 Laurel Drive, on Jan. 27 at 10 a.m., finishing the week with a Kick Start Your Day networking breakfast on Jan. 28 at 7:30 a.m. at the chamber offices, 1100 S. Friendswood Drive, on FM 518.
Friendswood Youth Baseball has just a handful of spots remaining to sign up for the 7-and-under Pinto division and the 13-14 Pony division. Go to Friendswoodyouthbaseball.com for more information. Tryouts will be held Jan. 30 for the two Shetland age divisions (5 and 6-year-olds) from 2-5 p.m. and for the Mustang division (9 and10-year-olds) from 5-6 p.m.
ravery@hcnonline.com
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January 22, 2021 at 11:00PM
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Friendswood reports drop in crime for 2020 - Houston Chronicle
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