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Welcome, Thieves

When Spokane Valley, Wash., police found Nathan John Calvert with a Jeep full of stuff, they had one big clue theft was involved: Calvert had said so on Facebook. But officers could find no police reports identifying the stolen goods and their owners. One possible reason: the police department in neighboring Spokane closed its property crimes unit last year and publicly announced it would only investigate about one in 20 property crimes. Now Spokane Valley cops, who still have a property crimes unit, often end up investigating Spokane thefts because repeat offenders strike in both jurisdictions. Plus some Spokane residents are investigating matters themselves. Property crime statistics did drop last year in Spokane, but it’s not clear whether that’s because of citizens’ independent work, or because people simply aren’t bothering to report crimes. Anne Kirkpatrick, the former police chief who closed the property crimes unit, says she’s not to blame: she’d warned city officials that if they kept cutting her budget, she’d close the property unit. (AC/Spokane Spokesman-Review) ...I guess closing the drug unit wouldn’t have been as good a threat.