County sees large increase in crime

By Staff
Melissa Cason
If you caught yourself thinking it seems like crime is on the rise, you are not alone.
New statistics released this week show that crime in Franklin County increased 36 percent from 2007 to 2008.
Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing received the latest numbers from the Administrative Office of Courts showing that crime in Franklin County has gone up, and the trend continues to be on the rise.
The report shows that Franklin County had 194 felony cases in 2002. That number more than doubled in 2008 with 449 felony cases.
"We have seen a major increase in felony cases over the last six years," Rushing said. "Crime has increased so much that we have had a 36 percent increase from 2007 to 2008."
Rushing said the numbers only reflect the solved cases, and do not reflect the amount of unsolved cases at all.
"The crime increase is not over," Rushing said. "We are already ahead for this year so 2009 is looking to be another record breaking year in felony cases."
On a more positive note, Rushing said the cost of trial has gone down because of the way juries are selected in the county.
"We select several different juries out of one jury pool, and that has made the cost of each jury trial go down well below the state average," Rushing said.
The state average is $800 per jury trial. Franklin County's cost is less than $600 per trial.
Rushing said the increased number of cases is stretching is office and the rest of the county's police departments thin.
"There is a ton of unsolved cases out there," Rushing said. "They are unsolved because of officer shortages in the county's departments."
The Franklin County Sheriff's Department, the Red Bay Police Department, and the Russellville Police Department are all working with limited manpower.
Franklin County Sheriff Larry Plott said his department is six officers short while Red Bay Police Chief Pat Creel needs at least three more to have more than one officer per shift. Russellville is down to 19 officers, and they need three more to work at full capacity.
Rushing said the felony cases, solved and unsolved, go back to the police officers because every felony case originates with a report by a police officer.
"The departments are doing a great job with their limited resources," Rushing said. "It's the patrol officer who takes the initial reports and calls in the investigators."
Plott said his department is working to give aid to his department's manpower.
"We have applied for grants to hire three new officers," Plott said. "We have another officer leaving in May for active military service so we'll be cut short even more."
Creel is also searching for avenues to take in order to find funding for more officers.
"We looked at the C.O.P.S. grant, but did not get the application in because of technical difficulties with the submission process," Creel said. "We are continuing to look for as much grant funding as possible."
Mayor Troy Oliver said Russellville's council did not give authority to Chief Chris Hargett to apply for the C.O.P.S. grant because the police department is working effectively as it is.
"Our police department is working fine," Oliver said. "The grants only pay for three years. The city would have to pay the salaries after the grant drops off. If we don't have the money now, what makes you think we'll have it in four years."
The Russellville Department currently works three to four officers per shift. The average amount of calls per month for Russellville's officers is 700 calls.
Officials with all the county departments are working limited resources because of the budget crisis. Unfortunately, instead of crime going down or staying the same, the economic crisis is expected to bring in work for those departments.