During the Holbrook City Council meeting on Thursday, Dec. 8, the council was presented with the Holbrook Police Department’s annual report by Police Chief Nathan Christensen.
During the report it was revealed that car thefts in the city have increased by 38%, from 13 to 18, with mostly one person to blame. “The majority of those stolen vehicles were committed by one person who county attorneys will not prosecute, because he is a Rule 11,” stated Christensen. A Rule 11 means that a defendant is suspected of being mentally incompetent and unfit to stand trial.
He explained, “We continue to arrest him for all of his crimes. He commits a lot of shoplifting, assaults and vehicle thefts here.” According to Christensen, this menace has been terrorizing more than just Holbrook. “He’ll steal a car in Winslow to come to Holbrook, and then he’ll steal a car from Holbrook to get back to Winslow.”
Christensen encouraged residents to keep their cars locked, and to never leave their keys in the ignition. “His latest car theft was a person stopped off at Speedway and left the car running when he went inside to get coffee and came out to have his car stolen by this subject.” Christensen added that this individual also commits assaults on the officers. “So, we’re kind of at a loss of what to do. We get no cooperation from the county because there is a Rule 11 and he has been found unfit to stand trial.”
When asked if a notice of the individual could be posted with a photo for identification to notify the public, Christensen stated that since he has not been convicted of a crime the police department would be unable to do that but businesses can do so of their own volition.
Christensen explained a concern for the department is the increase of violence against officers, as well as the number of incidents of suspects resisting arrest. “I don’t know the reason why. I can speculate that it’s probably social media attack on law enforcement that has caused people to be more brazen with us.”
The department also saw an increase in traffic stops, warnings and tickets, as well as graffiti increasing by 83%, going up from six to 11 incidents this year; DUI incidents increased by 50%, up from five to 10; and suicides increased from none last year to three in 2022. The report also noted a 37% increase in domestic violence calls, from 32 to 44; citations increased 131%, from 64 to 148; sex offenses increased by 22%, from nine to 11; and juvenile arrests increased 106%, from 15 to 31.
Only two criminal categories showed a decrease including disorderly conduct incidents decreasing by 11% from 280 to 248; and burglaries decreased by 52%, from 31 to 15.
“Our calls for service increased from 4,717 to 5,416, which is a 14%, almost 15% increase.” Christensen stated, “We have been working throughout the year with an average of seven officers, which includes myself and Lieutenant (Jed) Koon in the call rotation.”
Christensen added that a new officer, Amber Shelendewa, just graduated from the academy and began her field training last Sunday. “We have another officer who’s currently on extended medical leave who is set to retire in March next year. Once he leaves, we’ll have three vacancies as long as we can maintain the ones that we currently have.” It was noted that the police department only received four applications this year, with only one new officer hired.
Mayor Kathleen Smith thanked Christensen for the report and expressed her concern in regards to his officers. She asked Christensen to return to the next council meeting on Dec. 20, with his department’s needs so the council can make space in the upcoming budget. “We may have to make some modifications to our budget to say, ‘okay, maybe we’re going to have to hold off on buying a used backhoe this time,’ to make sure we have our officers protected, because the last thing we need is our officers getting hurt. They’re already tired, they’re doing overtime and they’re getting more assaults,” she stated. “We want the police department to know we’re serious when we say we support you.”
Christensen will be presenting for the council again at the next council meeting slated for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 20, due to staff holiday time off scheduled on the day of the regular meeting.
