Puyallup Police Report Shows Increases In Theft, Fraud In 2020

PUYALLUP, WA — A new report from the Puyallup Police Department is giving a new look at how crime changed in 2020 versus previous years.

One of the most notable findings in the police department's Annual Report 2020 was an increase of nearly 500 more reports of theft. The department says they handled a total 2,623 theft cases last year, up from 2,185 in 2019.

Fraud investigations also saw a significant spike, growing from just 250 cases in 2019 to 447 in 2020. Puyallup police also handled 357 burglaries, up from 267 the year before. The department says these predicted increases are likely in part due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, aggravated assault, sexual assaults and robberies all declined slightly in 2020.

The pandemic also caused traffic-related crimes to decline, as fewer drivers were on the road and the department de-emphasized traffic stops to minimize potential COVID-19 exposure. In 2020 the department performed 7,093 traffic stops, down from 12,746 in 2019. DUI arrests also dropped from 308 in 2019 to 218 last year.

Traffic citations from red-light cameras also dipped, though less significantly. All together, the police department's 13 red-light cameras issued a total 31,786 citations last year, down from 32,737 in 2019.

The pandemic also had some other unexpected impacts on the department, including cutting their average training time in half. In 2019, the department averaged 86.8 hours of training per employee. In 2020 that number dove to an average of 41.23 hours per employee. The department does say that, if you only consider officers the average rises to 60.59 hours per employee, but they will be working to get 2021's training time up to pre-pandemic levels.

>> Read the full Annual Report 2020 from the Puyallup Police Department.