According to the annual Crime in Washington 2023 report, serious crimes in Yelm decreased 19.68% from 2022 to 2023.
According to the report, last year, 518 “Group A” crimes were reported, a decrease of over 100 from 2022, which had 645 “Group A” crimes reported to the Yelm Police Department.
The report, prepared by Criminal Justice Information Support Staff and released July 9, highlighted over 500 “Group A” offenses and nearly 300 additional “Group B” arrests.
“Group A” statistics include: murder, manslaughter, rape, sodomy, sexual assault with an object, fondling, aggravated assault, simple assault, intimidation, kidnapping, incest, statutory rape, human trafficking offenses, violation of no contact or protection orders, robbery, burglary, larceny-theft offenses, motor vehicle theft, arson, destruction of property, counterfeiting or forgery, fraud offenses, embezzlement, extortion or blackmail, bribery, stolen property offenses, animal cruelty, drug or narcotic violations, drug equipment violations, gambling offenses, pornography, prostitution offenses and weapon law violations.
According to the statistics, police arrested 167 people for Group A offenses.
In 2023, a total of 518 “Group A” offenses were reported, down from 127 from 2022. Of the 2023 offenses reported, 76 involved domestic violence. According to the statistics, 167 total arrests were made.
Statistics in “Group B” include bad checks, curfew or vagrancy, disorderly conduct, drunkenness, DUI, family offenses, liquor law violations, peeping Tom, trespass and “all other offenses.” According to the Crime in Washington 2023 report, there were 284 “Group B” arrests, including six juveniles.
Yelm Police Department
“Group A” offenses
In 2023, YPD had five reported rapes, down from nine in 2022, and one arrest. Last year, there were nine reports of fondling and zero arrests, which is up from seven reports in 2022.
Aggravated assault in 2023 was down to 12 reports and four arrests, in comparison to 17 reports in 2022. Simple assault reports were up to 76 with 44 arrests in 2023, in comparison to 68 in 2022. Intimidation reports were also up in Yelm last year with 22 reported cases and 13 total arrests, in comparison to 19 reports in 2022.
There was one instance of a kidnapping report but zero arrests in 2023 by YPD, down from two reports in 2022. In both 2022 and 2023, there was one report of statutory rape, but no arrests last year. Last year, there were 30 reports of a no-contact or protection order violation and 22 arrests, up from 24 reports in 2022.
Robbery reports by YPD were up in 2023 with nine reported cases and five arrests, compared with six reports in 2022. Larceny theft offenses were nearly cut in half in 2023 with 121 reported instances and 44 arrests, in comparison to 225 in 2022.
Motor vehicle theft decreased to 20 reports in 2023 with no arrests, down from 33 reported instances in 2022. Arson reports cut in half from two in 2022 to just one in 2023, but no arrests. Destruction of property reports also decreased in 2023, down from 94 reports in 2022 to 79 incidents in 2023 with five arrests.
Counterfeiting reports also saw a big decrease in 2023, down to two incidents compared with 11 in 2022. Fraud reports by YPD were up in 2023 to 31 and three arrests, compared with 29 reports in 2022. There was one report of animal cruelty by YPD in 2022, while there were zero in 2023.
In 2022, there was one instance of extortion or blackmail reported by YPD, while there were zero in 2023. Stolen property offenses decreased in 2023 to six reports and four arrests, down from 14 instances in 2022.
Drug or narcotic violations went up in Yelm in 2023 with 49 total reports and 15 arrests, while there were 12 reports in 2022. Drug equipment violations, however, decreased in 2023 to just two reports, down from four in 2022.
In 2022, there were nine weapon law violations reported by YPD, which decreased to eight instances and three arrests in 2023.
There were zero reports by YPD in 2022 and 2023 in the following “Group A” offenses: murder, manslaughter, sodomy, incest, human trafficking, embezzlement, bribery, gambling, pornography or prostitution.
Group B Arrests
In 2023, there were 284 total “Group B” arrests, including nine adult disorderly conducts. Last year, there was one adult instance of family offenses, and an adult and juvenile each separately committed liquor law violations. A total of 32 adults received trespasses, while just one juvenile received a trespass notice. YPD reported 44 DUIs, all committed by adults. In the “other offenses” category, 191 involved adults, while four juveniles were arrested in the same category.
According to the report, in Thurston County, there was a 16.1% decrease in “Group A” criminal offenses reported. See next week’s edition for more information about county and state crime.
