Commonwealth Attorney George Davis presented some interesting statistics at

Commonwealth Attorney George Davis presented some interesting statistics at last week’s Supervisor meeting—interesting but incorrect. Some of Davis’s “facts” appear misrepresented and some are down right wrong. Davis claimed that mileage paid to the Sheriff’s Department had increased while at the same time breaking and enterings had more than doubled, making Rappahannock County the leader in breaking and altering crimes in this section of the state.

On the first charge, he’s absolutely wrong and we’d like to see the basis for the Commonwealth Attorney’s figuring. According to mileage records kept by Sheriff W. A. Buntin and his predecessor John Walker Jenkins, average monthly accumulation for 1975 was 9,256 miles. In 1976, this amount decreased to 7,939 miles per month and dropped even further during the first eight months of 1977 to an average of only 6,824 miles per month.

Davis is half right on his breaking and entering statistics. The county does lead all other jurisdictions in the Rappahannock-Rapidan Planning District for the number of breaking and enterings committed. However, the number of such crimes has not doubled, according to the Planning District’s Criminal Justice Plan. In 1975, 37 burglaries were reported. In 1976, the number grew to 49, an increase of 32 per cent.

The report goes on to state that serious crime against persons and property increased by 52 per cent between 1975 and 1976. But, at the same time, the stolen property recovery rate rose from 0 to 29 per cent and the arrest clearance rate increased from 11 to 33 per cent.

It’s evident that more crimes are being committed in Rappahannock, as well as throughout the rest of the country. At least here, the percentage of solved crimes has also increased.

The Planning District’s Comprehensive Criminal Justice Report,