Crime declines in Bonner County

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BONNER COUNTY — Overall, crime is down in Bonner County.

Crime rates dropped an average of 5.7% from 2020-21 in the county compared to a 2.9% drop across the state, according to the annual “Crime in Idaho” report released by Idaho State Police.

Crime rates for Bonner County compare favorably with a rate of 3,834.37 per 100,000 residents while the state reports a rate of 4,282.26 per 100,000.

The year prior saw a 6.6% increase in reported offenses in Bonner County from 2019 to 2020. In 2019, total offenses were 1,678 for Bonner County, but that increased in 2020 to 1,789 before dropping in 2021 closer to 2019 levels with 1,687 total offenses shown in the county breakdown in the ISP report.

However, these trends were not shared by Priest River, where crime spiked by almost 75% in 2021. Priest River is the only jurisdiction in Bonner County that reported an increase in crime for 2021. Destruction of property more than doubled (from 3 to 7) and drug crimes more than tripled (from 11 to 37). Total offenses in Priest River were 89 for 2021, up from 51 in 2020.

Priest River Police Sgt. Chris Davis said the increase has to do with more vehicle inspections than anything else.

“In 2020 we weren’t really searching vehicles the way we usually do because of the pandemic,” Davis said, adding that with pandemic concerns abating, vehicle inspections are up.

Davis said most of the cases have to do with marijuana.

“Sometimes Washington motorists forget that it’s still illegal here,” he added.

Priest River sits at the junction of highways 2 and 57 about six miles from the Idaho-Washington border.

The sergeant also mentioned methamphetamine and fentanyl as contributors to the increase in drug crimes, but underscored that “marijuana is the most abused drug.”

Drug/narcotics violations across the county rose slightly from 373 in 2020 to 379 reported offenses last year while reported drug equipment violations rose from 268 to 292.

Reports of simple assault decreased across the county from 246 to 233 while aggravated assault stayed the same at 45 reported cases. Sex related offenses dropped from 67 to 55 across the county.

In Bonner County cases of burglary/breaking and entering decreased from 145 to 102 and cases of larceny/theft decreased from 343 to 296 in 2021. However, reported fraud offenses increased from 43 in 2020 to 56 in 2021.

Destruction of property decreased from 154 in 2020 to 132 across the county. Weapons violations also decreased from 26 reported offenses in 2020 to 18 last year.

Of all the jurisdictions in Bonner County, the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office saw the greatest decrease in crime from 2020 to 2021 at 8.6%. PonderayPolice came in second with a near 7.8% decrease. Sandpoint Police came in third with a decrease of 6.8%.

Of the 1,687 crimes reported last year across Bonner County, 1,482 led to an arrest (87.8%).

No hate crimes were reported in Bonner nor Boundary counties in the past year. However, two were reported in Kootenai County to Coeur d’Alene Police. A total of 47 hate crimes were reported last year in Idaho, down from 54 the year before.

Information: for more on crime rates in Idaho go to nibrs.isp.idaho.gov/CrimeInIdaho/.