MARIPOSA COUNTY – The Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office has released the 2013 annual statistics, and say they are fairly status quo to last year.
Though they have noted an increase in DUI arrests and Animal Control responses, theft reports and crimes against children are down. “We are glad to see a decrease in both, especially reported child sex crimes,” says Sheriff Doug Binnewies.
The month of March 2013 received the most reported cases and November was the lowest.
During 2012 the Sheriff’s Office successfully investigated three homicides for the year.
“This was an unusually high number,” says Sheriff Binnewies. “The last year we experienced multiple homicides was 1999 when Stayner murdered four women. No known homicides occurred in Mariposa County during 2013, which is a nice trend.”
The Sheriff says that 2013 was a challenging year for his office as they experienced low staffing throughout the entire year. This was a result of various situations, including vacant positions, injuries and the overall fielding of less patrol deputies as a result of five years or more of budgeting challenges due to the recession.
“I believe if we had maintained full staffing, our stats would have shown an increase in almost all areas,” says the Sheriff. “We were tested with low staffing numbers but responded well to the challenge.
“Our deputies are holding the line. The ability to maintain our standing in the community with light staffing is strong reflection of the quality law enforcement officers that we field. Our deputies are doing much more with less, and still holding the line. This hasn’t gone unnoticed, but our deputies are tired and ready for some reinforcements.”
Along those lines, Sheriff Binnewies says they have hired three new recruits, all residing in the county, including two young men and a young woman. All three have previous professional experiences in various fields, including the Marine Corp, National Park Service law enforcement, and machining. The three new cadets will be attending the Fresno College Police Academy starting this month.
“The police academy is high stress environment, physically and mentally challenging lasting six months,” he says. “Once they graduate, they will start their Field Training as a Mariposa County Sheriff’s Deputy.”
In addition to the three cadets, the Sheriff’s Office is planning to hire a Lateral Deputy, whose father maintained a career with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. This new deputy will most likely be starting mid-February.
“The Office is excited for the new deputies and we are looking forward to another successful year,” says Sheriff Binnewies.
