Major and

minor crime up in New Ulm in 2003

Major criminal offenses up an average of

6 percent annually since 1999

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The numbers of both major and minor crimes reported in New Ulm rose again during 2003, according to a recent report.

The New Ulm Police Department released its yearly report to the New Ulm City Council this past week. The report gathers statistics about the kinds of crimes that happened in the city during the previous year and the number of cases that police solved.

There were a total of 372 major criminal offenses committed in New Ulm in 2003 and 27 percent of them resulted in an arrest, according to the report.

Major criminal offenses have risen on an average of 6 percent each year since 1999. But arrest rates have also risen accordingly. Of the 355 major crimes in New Ulm in 2002, 25 percent ended in an arrest.

Theft was the most common major offense last year as it has been for the past five years; 288 theft cases were reported in 2003. Burglary again followed theft with 53 cases last year. Police reported 13 cases of auto theft, three rapes and two arson cases in 2003.

Children under age 18 were involved in 21 of the major cases where police made an arrest.

The overall number of lesser offenses, like forgery and narcotics, also rose in 2003. A total of 954 of those kinds of crimes were reported and 64 percent of them ended in an arrest. Those numbers represent a 22 percent increase from 2002, when there were 779 of those lesser offenses.

There were 70 people under age 18 involved with the lesser offenses that were cleared by an arrest.

New Ulm Police Chief Erv Weinkauf said he thinks the Police Department did well with the its available resources last year. He anticipates the department's overall arrest rates to increase, thanks to City Council approval for a second investigator, another patrol officer and more clerical staff.

Weinkauf said 2003 was a year of changes for the department. In addition to three promotions and three new hires, NUPD added its first K-9 unit and was successful in securing $25,000 in grants to buy surveillance equipment and methamphetamine investigation equipment this past year.

NUPD also worked with the Brown County Sheriff's Department in the Safe & Sober traffic enforcement campaign, Weinkauf said. He said he would like to link the Police Department into the City of New Ulm's website to use it as a kind of police blotter that could warn residents of scams and other issues affecting the community.

"Overall, I'm pleased with the progress we've made in the year and half since I've been chief," Weinkauf said.

In addition to increases in major and lesser crimes, the report also found:

* New Ulm had 314 traffic accidents in 2003, which involved damage to property only in 252 cases and injuries in 61 of those cases. There was only one fatal traffic collision in New Ulm in 2003.

Of all the days of the week, Monday was the day when most of the collisions happened last year, since 61 collisions happened on that day. Tuesday was the second-most common day, as 51 collisions happened then with Wednesday a close third with 49 collisions. Thursday was close behind Wednesday with 48 collision. Forty-five collisions happened on Friday in 2003 and 40 collisions occurred on Saturday. Sunday was the day when the smallest number --19 -- of all the days in the week.

Police wrote 619 tickets in 2003. Speeding tickets comprised the bulk of the load, with officers writing 240 such citations last year. Driving with expired license plates was the second-most common traffic ticket with 110 such citations, followed by 68 seat belt violations, 39 stop sign violations and 34 stop light violations. Driving after license revocation, driving without a license, driving after license suspension, careless driving and exhibition driving -- in that order -- were the other categories for which police wrote tickets in 2003.

* Officers assisted mainly with animal complaints, with 740 such cases in 2003 and performed 194 escorts and 146 funerals in the same year. They checked a total of 76 open doors, assisted at 60 fires and had 49 riders last year. They logged a total of 203,153 miles patrolling the city.