The details
Police Chief Troye Dunlap presented the information with context about some of the categories at the March 13 city of Shenandoah meeting.
"Misdemeanor thefts are increased because of the catalytic converter thefts we had," Dunlap said. "We also had the Home Depot thefts. We are seeing some of those trend back down."
Misdemeanor thefts increased 5.2%, from 516 to 543, between the two time periods tracked—2016-19 and 2020-23—while felony thefts increased about 132% during that period, from 188 to 436.
Community Impact previously reported the department has been tracking catalytic converter thefts since 2021.
Several categories that have seen decreases include residential burglary of a vehicle, which has decreased 55.6% from 27 to 12 over the two time periods studied, and burglary of a building, which has decreased 16.4% from 73 to 61 incidents.
What they're saying
Dunlap said he has taken a proactive approach to enforcement.
"You can definitely see that the proactivity in law enforcement works," Dunlap said at the meeting. "You see the decrease in residential [burglaries]. ... We’ve had crime since Shenandoah existed, we’ve had ups and downs, but I know that attacking the crime, being proactive will decrease the overall crime."
