City Manager Gina Nash called it “that time of the year” in introducing Police Chief Bryan Sylvester’s annual review to city council on the department’s just-completed year fighting crime.

Sylvester delivered a lengthy report Monday, Feb. 20 to the council, detailing what he called an 8% increase in total crimes committed in 2022 over the previous year. Sylvester, though, said the numbers do not reflect a surge in crime, noting that in several categories of violent crime, the city saw decreases in such criminal activity. Sylvester also announced that the police department plans to revive its Citizens Police Academy, with the first class scheduled tentatively to begin in early August.

Aggravated assaults declined from eight in 2021 to just one in the past year, Sylvester said. Simple assaults, though, did increase from 135 in 2021 to 177 in 2022. Residential burglaries also went up slightly from six to 10 year over year, he said, along with building and vehicle burglaries. Sylvester attributed the large number of housing construction sites for the increase in residential burglaries.

The city recorded one homicide in 2022, but Sylvester called that a vehicular homicide, unlike the murder that was committed the previous year.

Part II crimes, those of a lesser nature, also showed increases, Sylvester said, noting a 40% increase in public intoxication, a 44% increase in drunken driving and a 20% increase in assorted drug violations. Sylvester credited the police department’s aggressive arrest posture for the increase in those crimes, rather than a dramatic increase in that kind of illicit activity.

“There is no pattern in auto thefts,” Sylvester told the council. He said there is no particular make or model of vehicle being stolen, nor are any neighborhoods being hit more frequently than others.

Sachse’s property crime rate compares favorably to the state and national averages, Sylvester said of the 10-year pattern he presented. The same can be said of violent crime over the past 10 years, the chief noted, with Sachse showing a steady decline in recent years while the Texas and national trends have shown slight upticks. “Crime is slightly higher,” Sylvester said, “but arrests are significantly higher.”

For the full story, see the March 2 issue of The Sachse News.