Idaho, local crime reports released

The Idaho State Police have released the 2009 Crime Report in Idaho.

The report shows that the overall crime rate in the state involving the more serious Group A Offenses was down 3.6 percent over 2008, with 5,301.1 such crimes per 100,000 inhabitants

Violent crimes, with 3,647 offenses reported, went up 6.9-percent last year.

Hate crimes were up 16.7 percent last year, with 35 such cases reported throughout the state.

Statewide in 2009, there were 249 assaults on law enforcement officers, down 1.6-percent from 2008, with two Idaho officers killed in the line of duty.

In Boundary County, group A offenses increased 13.8-percent from the year before, with a total of 338 offenses reported. Despite the jump, 2009 saw the second lowest annual rate of crime over the past five years, from a high of 385 offenses in 2006.

The number of arrests made in 2009 fell to the lowest level in the five years reported, beginning in 2005, from a high of 541 in 2005 to 378 last year, continuing a five-year trend.

There were no reported cases of murder or manslaughter in Boundary County in 2009.

There also were no cases of bribery, embezzlement, illegal gambling, kidnapping, pornography, prostitution, forcible sodomy, incest or statutory rape, though there were five reported forcible rapes.

Of those five, four cases were cleared with one adult arrested as a result.

There were two reported robberies, and two adults were charged in clearing both, and 10 aggravated assaults, with nine cleared and five adult arrests.

The clearance rate on burglaries and thefts locally in 2009 were predictably low. Of the 57 burglaries reported, 13 were cleared, leading to the arrests of eight adults and eight juveniles; of 64 larcenies reported, 19 were cleared and 10 adults and eight juveniles arrested.

Two auto thefts from 2009 remain unresolved; of five thefts reported, three arrests were made in clearing three of those cases.

One case of arson was reported, with that case closed with no arrests, and there were 52 cases of simple assault, with 22 adults and three minors arrested in the closure of 47 of those cases.

Four cases of intimidation were reported in Boundary County last year, two of them closed with one adult arrested, and there were seven cases of counterfeiting/forgery, with two of those cases closed with the arrests of two adults.

There were 35 cases of vandalism reported, with nine of those cases closed and two adults and nine juveniles charged, there were nine cases of fraud, three of which were closed with two adult arrests.

One case of extortion/blackmail remains unresolved from 2009.

There was also one case of stolen property, which was resolved with two adults arrested, and five weapons law violations, all resolved with three adults charged.

There were five reports of forcible fondling last year, four of them closed with two adults arrested, and two cases of sexual assault, both resolved with no arrests.

Overall, there were 338 group A offenses reported in Boundary County in 2009; 199 of them closed with the arrests of 110 adults and 35 juveniles. Of those crimes, 131 occurred within Bonners Ferry City limits, 207 in county jurisdiction.

In group B arrests county-wide in 2009, two adults were arrested for passing bad checks, one juvenile for curfew violation, five adults and one juvenile for disorderly conduct, 74 adults and two minors for DUI, four adults for drunkenness, 11 adults and five minors for liquor law violations, eight minors for runaway, and one adult for trespass.