Crimes increase in Flathead County

As Flathead County’s population grows, so does the number of crimes committed within its borders.

Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry recently released six-month crime totals in his office’s fall newsletter. 

From roughly March to August, there were 132 assaults, 123 thefts, 66 incidents of vandalism, 61 drug and alcohol crimes, 40 burglaries, 18 instances of fraud, 14 motor vehicle thefts and three arson crimes.

“We’ve had a continuing trend over the last four years of a steady increase in calls for service,” Curry said while noting the increase was “most likely commensurate with our increase in population.”

The list does not include all crimes, however, such as Internet crimes, which are handled at the federal level. Curry said those types of cases — particularly those involving children — have been eating up a lot more of their time.

“Everything is generally up, probably,” he said. “Up but not significantly up, and not significantly up in any particular category.”

Curry said a records person in his office is generally tasked in January with putting together a comprehensive list of all crimes over the prior year to determine what’s up and down and by how much.

“All of our statistics are reported to the Montana Board of Crime Control and the FBI in addition to us analyzing them for trends and to give us an idea of where to focus any sort of preventative work,” he said.