Sheriff submits 2023 crime statistics
Guns, money, drugs, and a horse among items seized; 229 total arrests
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The Howard County Sheriff’s Department had a busy year in 2023. Crime didn’t take a break, and neither did the deputies. Sheriff Jerry Asher submitted statistics for the year to the Howard County Commissioners on Jan. 2 to demonstrate the efforts made to keep the community safe.
“It was quite a busy year for the task force,” said Asher. “The deputies made 229 total site and warrant arrests for the year. There was quite a bit of marijuana, meth, pills, and fentanyl. More than 14.8 pounds of illegal substances were taken off the street.
“We confiscated 72 handguns along with 15 long guns, 15 3D-printed guns, and 10 fully automatic handguns. A total of 112 guns were taken off the street, which is good, as we've seen some shootings in Kokomo over the (New Year’s) weekend.”
The arrests included 103 felony arrests and 101 for misdemeanors. There were an additional 16 federal arrests, the apprehension of seven shooting suspects, and two work release escapes.
When it came to seizing drugs, the task force removed Marijuana, meth, prescription medications, fentanyl, MDMA, spice, cocaine, heroin, and LSD from Howard County’s streets. While the numbers associated with each drug are ambiguous in terms of what they represent, they amounted to 14.8 pounds of illegal drugs.
The sheriff’s department also seized $72,456 in U.S. currency, a vehicle, and a horse.
Sheriff’s department non-arrest activity in 2023 included 346 traffic stops, 524 surveillance assignments, 75 investigative interviews, and 100 deployments of the department’s K9 officers. The K9 units were responsible for 78 arrests last year.
The department executed 453 search warrants last year, including 289 for social media harvesting, 64 for investigating content on electronic devices, 57 phone records, 29 searches of a residence, eight vehicle searches, and six requests for DNA.
Deputies also performed 169 home visits, 20 “knock and talks,” and 63 contacts with community members. They responded to 149 calls of shots fired, and made 24 actual shooting reports, 320 standard police reports. They also completed 859 calls for service.
The sheriff’s department also made note of the “cyber tips” it received last year. Like many law enforcement organizations across the country, the Howard County Sheriff’s Department maintains an online presence through social media and a dedicated mobile app, allowing citizens to report crimes and problems directly and online.
The department received 28 new cyber tips in 2023 and closed 38 cases with that information.
The sheriff also shared statistics from courthouse security. A total of 103,858 people went through the front door of the courthouse in 2023, as well as 2,162 inmates brought to the court for hearings.
“Just imagine how many people actually are visiting and walking through the courthouse,” said Asher. “This is not employees. This is just visitors coming in.”
And with those visitors came contraband. In past years, sheriffs have highlighted some of the more unusual objects brought to the courthouse, only to be confiscated or turned away at the door. There was a rather famous appearance of a machete a few years ago, for instance. But for the most part, the items confiscated were more mundane in 2023.
“Knives, chemicals, scissors, tools, a razor,” Asher counted. “Usually, we at least have at least one gun, but I guess we got lucky last year and did not have.”
Courthouse security was stricter in earlier years, after the installation of a metal detector and a security station at the front door. Restricted items brought into the courthouse then were routinely seized and disposed of, rather than allowing visitors to remove the items from the building.
That policy has eased in the intervening years, as Asher explained. However, courthouse security ended the practice of holding restricted items for visitors as a courtesy last July.
“I was happy to be there one day when an older gentleman had a little .22 Derringer in his pocket and probably kept it in there for the last 75 years and didn't think about it when he came to the courthouse for a hearing,” said Asher. “Obviously, we had to remind him to take that back to the car.”
The courthouse security checkpoint removed 724 knives, 118 chemicals (likely pepper spray and the like, Asher posited), 15 pairs of scissors, 20 assorted tools, and three razors. There were 37 other items seized that were not detailed.