Spunaugle, Rhamy agree COVID lockdown led to decreased crime

The various restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus in 2020 disrupted life for everyone – including lawbreakers.

According to Red Oak Police Chief Justin Rhamy and Montgomery County Sheriff Jon Spunaugle, agency statistics and call comparisons for numerous categories decreased in 2020 over 2019, most likely due to the lockdown.

“When businesses were closed for three months, I’m sure it played a role in the decrease of thefts and so forth,” said Rhamy. “People are no longer out and about in the same way.”

The ROPD reported 70 fewer calls for service that were not traffic related; two fewer arrests; 67 fewer traffic citations; 193 fewer parking tickets; and 46 fewer incident reports.

However, they did see an uptick in the number of welfare checks, an increase of121, and more traffic accidents, with an increase of 122.

“People could still get in their car and drive during the lockdown while social distancing, so that is more than likely why there was an increase in accidents for our department,” said Rhamy. “With people not leaving their homes as much, and because of social distancing, it also more likely led to the increase in welfare checks.”

When it came to the sheriff’s office, Spunaugle said accidents were down 31.5 percent from 2019 to 2020. He added the number of traffic stops also decreased 30 percent, which surprised him at first, but then he recalled there was no school, no events and festivities, and a lot of people began working remotely.

“If the majority of the population is working from home or not working at all, they aren’t going to be out on the roadways,” Spunaugle commented.

Criminal mischief calls decreased 30 percent, as did assaults throughout the county, while no changes were shown when it came to narcotic arrests, reported Spunaugle.

He did say there was a 27.5 percent increase in 2020 for suicides over 2019; a 27.5 percent for mental health calls; a 29.6 percent increase for disputes and disturbances, and a 25.5 percent increase in domestic abuse reports.

“COVID-19 definitely impacted our workload in 2020; absolutely,” said Spunaugle.

Pandemic or not, the police department and sheriff’s office continues to do its best to keep the local communities safe.

“Just because there is a pandemic, it doesn’t mean we aren’t still out there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” said Spunaugle. “We’re here, ready to respond to any emergency.”