By Kathy Laird
Many Crawford County residents elected Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold to help reduce the effects of drug-related crime in Crawford County. New statistics provided by local law enforcement show a change is taking place.
According to new data just released, drug related crime is down all across Crawford County. The statistics cover 2014-17. Leuthold took the bench in 2015.
In Bucyrus, results were compiled by Bucyrus Police Chief David Koepke and showed total burglaries in Bucyrus decreased by 53 percent, break-ins by 43 percent, thefts decreased by 34 percent and robberies decreased by 60 percent for a total reduction in drug related crime in the city of Bucyrus at 38 percent.
In Galion, results were compiled by Galion City Police Chief Satterfield and showed an even greater drop in drug-related crime. Burglaries decreased by 58 percent, break-ins decreased by 57 percent, thefts by 48 percent and robberies by 100 percent for a total reduction in drug-related crime in the city of Galion at 50 percent.
In Crestline, results were compiled by Crestline Village Police Chief Joseph Butler and reflected the biggest drop of all in drug-related crime. Burglaries decreased by 53 percent, break-ins decreased by 53 percent, thefts decreased by 60 percent and there was no change in the status of robberies, with just one occurring, making the total drop in drug-related crime for the village of Crestline 58 percent.
Crawford County Sherriff Scott Kent compiled results for the county. According to Kent, burglaries and break-ins decreased by 63 percent since 2014, thefts decreased by 50 percent, and no drug-related robberies occurred in either 2014 or 2017. The drug related crime for Crawford County is down a total of 53 percent.
According to Crawford County Prosecutor Matt Crall, it has been a team effort.
“Fighting crime must be a community effort. It is true that it takes a motivated group of law enforcement with good leadership, an aggressive prosecutor, and judges who hold those who break the law accountable,” Crall said. “However, most importantly, fighting crime needs a community that refuses to be a victim. It takes a community-wide effort. Crawford County has made fighting crime a priority by providing financial support through levies to support our law enforcement efforts. We are lucky to have that in Crawford County and we are seeing results.”
Municipal Court Judge Shane Leuthold has been busy addressing drug related crime in his courtroom.
“Clearly, over the last three years, people are getting the message that Crawford County is not the place to commit drug-related crime,” Leuthold said. “Criminal behavior is being successfully investigated, prosecuted and most importantly punished in the appropriate manner. Simply put, criminals are now being held accountable and the crime rate indicates that.”
Judge Sean Leuthold weighed in on the effect his court has had on reducing drug related crime.
“Drug related crimes in Crawford County have greatly decreased over the last three years, especially burglaries and robberies which are very serious felonies and put innocent people in danger. Obviously, I’m very pleased with the rate that crime has decreased. This is especially true because burglaries, break-ins, robberies and thefts affect innocent people,” Sean Leuthold said. “While I am certainly concerned with people using drugs, I am more concerned with protecting innocent people from crimes that are committed by drug users. Our county certainly owes a debt of gratitude to the hard working men and women in law enforcement. Clearly Crawford County is headed in the right direction.”