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SHELBY COUNTY PROSECUTOR�S
OFFICE
2008 YEAR-END REPORT
During
2008 the Criminal/Juvenile Division of my office handled
over 9,219 cases. That number does not include Child
Support Enforcement cases. Included in that caseload are
186 Major felony matters (Class A, B and C felonies);
426 Class D felony prosecutions, including 79 felony
O.V.W.I cases; 1,628 Misdemeanor offenses; and 5,321
Infraction cases. We filed no Murder cases in 2008.
In
addition to those cases we also prosecuted 164 Juvenile
matters, and filed 351 Search Warrants and Miscellaneous
Criminal Cases.
The year
2008 was an interesting year for in Shelby County Law
Enforcement. Most significantly we saw a slightly over
5% drop in what we consider �major� felony offenses.
These would include Class A, B, and C felony cases. We
filed no Murder cases last year.
Also,
significant to my office, is that we saw a 28.8% drop in
the number of Search Warrants applied for, Special
Investigations and Miscellaneous Criminal cases
conducted last year. I see two major contributing
factors to this decline. First, we have seen a
significant drop in the number of methamphetamine labs
in Shelby County. At their peak in 2005 �2006, it seemed
like we were getting search warrants to search for meth
labs about once a week. It is now rare to find an active
meth lab in our county. I would like to attribute that
to, among other things, the swift and coordinated
efforts of the Shelby County Drug Task Force. They have
been relentless in rooting out clandestine labs.
Likewise, I think the message has gone out, offenders
are receiving stiff sentences in Shelby County on lab
cases. This is not the place to be if you want to cook
meth.
I suspect
another factor contributing the decline in Search
Warrant applications is our office policy of requesting
warrants for a blood sample in all suspected drunk
driving cases where the driver refuses to comply with
the required breathalyzer test. We instituted that
policy several years ago. The intent was to obtain the
best evidence possible in drunk driving cases, as well
as to discourage what we saw as a trend of drivers
refusing to take the required test. We found that repeat
offenders were the most likely to refuse to cooperate
with the arresting officers. While it has been a
considerable burden on the Prosecutor�s staff and the
courts, we have seen positive results. We are getting
the scientific evidence we need to prosecute the most
serious of our drunk driving cases. At the same time,
word is clearly getting out: �The law requires you to
submit to a chemical test for intoxicated when requested
by a police officer...If you don�t, we will obtain a
warrant and draw a blood sample, in spite of your
refusal�. As a result, compliance with the law is
increasing, while the need to seek extraordinary
warrants is decreasing.
On the
flip side of things, our annual numbers bear out what we
several people, including Judge Sanders, have been have
been saying for awhile now. Misdemeanors, infractions
and traffic-related offenses saw a big up-tick in 2008.
The majority of these cases end up in Shelby Superior
Court #2. Misdemeanor cases rose by 12 � percent last
year. The number of infractions filed climbed by 2,077,
an increase of slightly more than 64%. Clearly renewed
emphasis on traffic safety enforcement, combined with an
increased number of officers on the streets, is
beginning to have an effect. These factors are
generating a significant increase in officer � driver
contacts, which are in turn driving up the number of
citations issued for violations. This reverses a
five-year trend of declining traffic and infraction
citations. As the Sheriff�s Department begins to bring
onboard long over-due new manpower in the upcoming year,
I would expect this trend to continue.
All in
all, we had a fairly peaceful year in our community from
a criminal justice standpoint. While our community has
its challenges, like any other, Shelby County continues
to enjoy one of the lowest crime rates in Indiana, if
not the Midwest.�
- R. Kent Apsley
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