SCSO sees drop in many offenses, but caseload remains the same

The Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office has seen a reduction in arrests, citations, and driving while under the influence citations (DWUI) throughout the 2020 year. But Sheridan County Sheriff Allen Thompson told Sheridan Media that the caseload on his deputies hasn’t changed. 

The SCSO reports that the total cases generated and handled by the Sheriff’s office in 2019 was 2674. That number has dropped to date in 2020 by 1.5% to 2632. 

Cases that involved cleared adult arrests – cases involving the arrest of at least one adult – in 2019 totaled 226, significantly higher than the 2020 year resulting in 145 cleared adult arrests to date, a 36% decrease. 

Cases involving cleared citations – cases involving the citation of at least one party involved – issued in 2019, numbered 131. So far in 2020 those citations dropped to 123, a reduction of 6%.

DWUI citations issued by the SCSO in 2019 totaled 55. That number to date in 2020 is 42, a decrease of DWUI citations of 24%. 

Citations for misdemeanor domestics fell from 17 in 2019, to 13 to date in 2020, also a 24% decrease. 

In spite of these decreases, Thompson said the caseload of Sheridan County deputies appears to be very similar to previous years. 

The office uses the month of January to catalog data from the previous year. According to Thompson, that time will be used to analyze that data and determine areas where deputies devoted their workload and possibly find new areas where the office can increase efforts.  

As in years past, Thompson will direct his office to post the resulting report to the Year in Review tab on the SCSO’s web page sometime in mid-February.