Crime in the seven major reporting categories was down and the clearance rate was up in 2021 in Hopkins County, according to Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office. Officers initiated 135 cases in the major offense categories, 132 of which were cleared, giving the sheriff’s office a clearance rate of 97.77% in those categories in 2021.
That’s 30 fewer cases initiated by sheriff’s office staff in 2021 than the year before, when the clearance rate was 90.85% for the seven major offense categories – criminal homicide (murder), robbery, forcible rape (sexual assault cases, excluding offenses against children), motor vehicle theft, assaults (aggravated and simple), burglaries, larceny (all other thefts). Crime in Hopkins County was the third lowest it’s ever been. In fact, the 135 offense cases recorded in these seven categories is the third lowest in 21 years, and only about one-third the high of 408 total offenses recorded by HCSO officers during 2002, a year in which only 198 of cases (48.5%) were cleared from the books either by arrest, convictions or exception.
The only times crime has been lower in Hopkins County in these categories since 2000 were 116 in 2018 and 120 in 2019. Crime in the 7 major reporting categories began dropping in 2003 from 408 to 382, fell below 300 cases for the first time in 2009 (289 cases) and has remained below that mark ever since, The first time fewer than 200 cases was reported in the 7 major reporting categories for Hopkins County was 2012, when 184 cases were recorded in these categories, and the overall crime total for these categories hasn’t been above 200 since.
As the crime rate has declined, clearance rates have increased, from 41.9% in 2000, to 58.9% in 2005, and has not been below 72.3% since then. In fact, the clearance rate hasn’t dipped below 90% since 2015. The county clearance rate has only been higher in two other years. The clearance rate was 98.9% in 2015 and 101.4% in 2017.
(The electronic case tracking system used was different until a couple of years ago, with cases that had yet to be cleared in a prior year counted in the year it was cleared, which made the 101.4% clearance rate possible. Currently, clearance rates are figured only for the year the offenses were recorded, with no carryovers from prior years counting. For instance, if a theft case was reported Dec. 10, 2021, but an arrest isn’t made until January 28, 2022, the case would be open and uncleared for 2021’s reporting purposes. The theft would be marked cleared on the books in January, but the clearance would not count toward the 2022 clearance rate.)
7 Major Categories
Two criminal homicides were reported in 2020 as well as 2021. While thankfully there are few murders in Hopkins County, that also means that the past 2 years have matched the record high of two set in 2004 and repeated in 2017 and 2018 as well. One murder was reported in each of the following years: 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2019. The remaining nine years from 2000-2021 there were no murders recorded by HCSO. The clearance rate in this category was 100% in 2021, and typically is 100%.
One robbery was recorded in 2021, the same as in 2020, 2021, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2015 and 2017. The record of three robberies was recorded in 2002. Two robberies each were also recorded in 2009, 2011 and 2014. There were no robberies recorded in the remaining years from 2000-2021. The clearance rate was 100% in this category in 2021 as well.
For the first time since 2002, no sexual assaults were recorded in Hopkins County in 2021; that’s down from five in 2020. The record high was set at 13 sexual assaults in 2008, one of only three years in the last 22 that double digit totals have been recorded by HCSO. A dozen forcible rapes were reported in 2006 and 11 in 2011. The clearance rate for this category was 100% in 2021.
A total of 75 assault offenses were reported in Hopkins County in 2021, 40 aggravated assaults and 35 simple assaults, and all 75 cases were cleared by arrest, conviction or exception. That’s six more aggravated assaults and one less simple assault in 2021 than in 2020.
2021 ties 2012 in the simple assault category, in only two other years since 2000 in which fewer simple assaults were reported, 29 in 2017 and 28 in 2018. In three years, triple digit sums were posted in the simple assault category: 108 in 2001, 112 in 2002 and 114 in 2003.
In only two other years since 2000 have there been more aggravated assaults, 44 in 2000 and the record 66 in 2004. The fewest number of aggravated assaults was five in 2010, with 2018 in second with six. In fact, this category has been steadily rising since 2018, increasing to 20 in 2019, 34 in 2020 and 40 this year.
HCSO Chief Investigator Corley Weatherford noted that several of the aggravated assaults are offenses against officers. That is reflective of an atmosphere carried from Washington on down, according to Sheriff Tatum. In fact, more than a dozen of the aggravated assaults recorded in 2021 were assaults on peace officers or public servants, and all except two (one each in April and June) occurred in the final 3 months of the year.
One less burglary was reported in 2021 than the 11 burglary reports taken by HCSO officers in 2020. Ten is the least number of burglaries recorded in Hopkins County in a single year since 2000. In fact, this category has continued to decline since 2005, when the category dropped from 114 to 108. From 2000 to 2006, the least number of burglaries recorded by HCSO was 101 in 2003, and the most since 2000 was 122 burglaries in 2002. Burglaries fell below 100 for the first time in 2006, when 77 were recorded, and has remained a double digit number since. There have continued to be less than 75 annually since 2010 when 63 were recorded, and less than 50 since 2016 when Hopkins County had only 36 burglaries. Fewer than 25 burglaries have been recorded annually in four of the last five years, dipping to 24 in 2017, up to 26 in 2018, 17 in 2019, 11 in 2020 and the new record low of 10 burglaries in 2021. The clearance rate for burglaries was also 100% in 2021.
A dozen vehicle thefts were recorded by HCSO in 2021, six less than in 2020. While certainly not a new record low, the number of vehicle burglaries recoded in 2021 was less than half the high of 27 reported in 2008. In only one year since 2000, in 2002, were no vehicle thefts recorded by HCSO. The clearance rate for this category was also 100% in 2021.
They’re not necessarily vehicles stolen from Hopkins County; the majority, Tatum noted, are stopped by law enforcement while driving through Hopkins County.
Weatherford added that a number of the stolen vehicle cases are vehicles stolen from outside of Hopkins County, but which are recovered in Hopkins County. In other words, he explained, someone who is stopped while driving a vehicle stolen from somewhere else would be charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in Hopkins County because they were in Hopkins County at the time of arrest.
Finally, thefts of all other items, listed in some reports as larceny, declined from 55 in 2020 to 35 in 2021. This was the only one of the seven major crime reporting categories in which the clearance rate was not 100 percent in 2021. However, deputies still cleared 32 of the 35 cases recorded in Hopkins County in 2021, which is still at 91.4% clearance rate.
Tatum and Weatherford attributed the decrease in crime in these categories, despite a population increase, to the good hard team effort of all officers involved, from communications to patrol and investigations, and jail corrections officers, to get done everything that needs doing. That team also includes the community, Weatherford said. Tatum said community members who look out for their neighbors, and help out by taking down license plates and descriptions of any vehicle that does not belong in the area, of anything else suspicious, and call it in to authorities are vital in helping to solve some cases, giving possible leads quicker, which helps clear cases. Tatum noted the vital role the judicial system plays in these cases as well. Having a judicial that backs law enforcement, pursuing punishment according to the offense, is another huge part of the decline in crime in these categories in Hopkins County.
Crimes Against Children
Although not counted in traditional crime reporting categories, crimes against children is an eighth major crime category that HCSO officers track closely and diligently devote their time to clearing, while exercising as much care as possible for the alleged child victims.
In 2021, HCSO officers logged a total of 34 crimes against children, and reported a 96.87% clearance rate, as all except one of those cases had been cleared in 2021.
These offenses include 15 sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault and continuous sexual assault of a child cases; 10 indecency with a child cases; 2 possession of child pornography cases; 6 abandoning or endangering of a child cases; and one aggravated kidnapping of a child case.
Overall, 11 fewer crimes against children were reported in 2021 than were recorded one year before. In 2020, 12 abandoning or endangering of a child cases were recorded, six possession of promotion of child porn, one human trafficking case, nine indecency with a child cases, two online solicitation of a minor cases 13 sexual assault of a child cases and two sexual performance by a child cases, according to the HCSO data.
Additional Cases
Tatum and Weatherford pointed out that while these are eight major crime reporting categories, they are by no means all of the cases recorded by HCSO in 2021. In fact, these offenses represent only 25% of the offenses local officers worked in 2021.
Overall, HCSO officials worked 551 cases, 546 of which were cleared, giving Hopkins County a 99.09% clearance rate. That left only 4 open cases and one inactive case still on the books at the end of 2021. While 21 more offenses were recorded in 2021 than 2020, officers cleared more cases last year than the year before: 546 to 2020’s 517. Thus, officers cleared 3.1% more cases in 2021 than in 2020.
Again, the sheriff credited the team effort of all involved from HCSO employees at every level to judicial partners and community members for the high clearance rates.
As most anyone who follows local headlines can tell you, a large number of the cases worked by sheriff’s officers in 2021 were controlled substance, marijuana and other drug-related offenses. In 2021, 261 of the total offenses were controlled substance and drug-related charges, 50 more cases in 2021 than in 2020. That’s nearly half of HCSO officers total caseload in 2021.
Tatum said an influx of methamphetamine is making its way across the border, flooding the streets with the substance, and driving down the cost. In the past, officers would focus on taking down clandestine labs where methamphetamine was being cooked. Now, the sheriff noted, there’s so much meth available that it is cheaper to buy the ready made product than to purchase the ingredients needed to make it. It also means officers are discovering larger amounts of meth when conducting a probable cause search. Deputies remain diligent, Tatum said, in removing meth and other substances and offenders from the streets of Hopkins County to make the community as safe as possible.
The remainder of charges are a mix of everything from illegal dumping, terroristic threats, cruelty to non-livestock animals, to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, unlawful carrying of weapon, criminal mischief, failure to identify, evading arrest, fraudulent use or possession of identifying information, obstruction of justice, retaliation, resisting arrest, criminal trespassing, harassment of a public servant, online impersonation, violation of a protective order or bond, deadly conduct, escape while arrested, stalking and credit or debit card abuse.
If you have an emergency, dial 9-1-1
The Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office is located at 298 Rosemont Sulphur Springs, TX 75482. You can reach them for non-emergency matters at (903) 438-4040.
