Alcohol fuels crime increase

WINDOW ROCK, April 3, 2008

Violent crime on the Navajo Nation plummeted last year, according to statistics from the Division of Public Safety.

But then, as Mark Twain liked to say, "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Figures released by the Navajo police this week fall into the latter category. They show a total of 863 cases of violent crime reported in 2007, compared with 6,594 reported in 2006.

But the 2007 figures do not include 846 cases of child abuse and 6,745 incidents of domestic violence, which would change the total to 8,454 violent crimes - an increase of 28 percent.

At the direction of the BIA, the police changed their reporting categories, moving child abuse and domestic violence out of the violent crimes category in 2007.

In fact, the rise in domestic violence reports - up almost 40 percent in 2007 from the 4,859 in 2006 - accounts for almost all of the statistical increase in violent crime as measured against the previous year.

Otherwise, the news is mixed. A total of 19 murders occurred in 2007 - five more than 2006 - with four cases resulting in an arrest by the end of the year.

There were 328 forcible rapes committed on the reservation last year, of which only 17 led to an arrest. In 2006, the reservation saw 338 rapes with 29 resulting in an arrest. There were six attempted rapes reported, compared with 10 in 2006.

Police Chief Jim Benally pointed out that violent crimes are investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by U.S. attorneys in Phoenix, Albuquerque and Salt Lake City so it may take two to four years before an arrest is made.

Most of the rape cases occur within families and involve alcohol abuse, Benally said.

"Families discourage having these cases pursued," he said, adding that rape by a stranger is still relatively uncommon on the reservation.

And there is still no evidence of a serial rapist on the loose here, in contrast to the situation in many cities, he said.

As for the rise in domestic violence cases, experts in that field note that the statistical upsurge may be due to factors other than more violence - it may reflect more public awareness and better reporting by victims and police.

Child abuse cases were down slightly with 846 reports last year versus 861 in 2006. As with rape, child abuse is mainly a family affair and almost every case involved alcohol abuse, Benally said.

Only 174 of the child abuse cases in 2007 have so far led to an arrest. In 2006 there were 161 arrests for child abuse.

Benally said that tribe's social services get involved in child abuse cases and try to make sure that the victim and other children in the family are protected from future incidents.

Overall, the number of aggravated assaults changed little. In 2006 there were 484 cases. There were 486 cases in 2007 and the weapon of choice seemed to be firearms, which accounted for 210 cases (down from 252 gun-related incidents reported in 2006).

Benally said he wasn't surprised to see firearms lead the list since there are no firearms restrictions on the reservation, which means that people can carry guns in open sight or concealed on their person.

This has become a serious problem in an area that is plagued by people who can't handle liquor. Combining the two, Benally said, "leads to violent behavior."

He suggested that it might be time for the Navajo Nation Council to consider enacting some gun control laws.

Alcohol-related arrests, including driving while intoxicated, drunkenness and liquor law violations, all rose in 2007.

DWI arrests increased to 8,938 last year, up 15 percent from 2006. Arrests for drunkenness increased to 32,886 from 31,382 in 2006. There were 1,141 arrests for liquor law violations in 2007, compared to 1,108 the previous year.

The statistics for 2007 show that both your car and your home are at risk from people who want to break in and steal something they can resell or pawn for cash, which they will use to buy alcohol and drugs.

A total of 1,089 vehicle break-ins were reported in 2007, down from the 1,372 reported in 2006, and 1,103 home break-ins (down from 1,225 in 2006). While almost 20 percent of the car break-ins resulted in an arrest, less than 7 percent of the home break-ins led to an arrest.

There were 450 reported cases of illegal gambling in 2007 (up from the 271 reported in 2006), mostly dealing with people at "squaw dances and ceremonies playing cards and other games," Benally said.

Only three cases actually resulted in arrest. The rest received verbal warnings.

The police received many reports of suspicious characters hanging around - a total of 7,056 last year. That compares to 6,774 cases reported in 2006.

Many of these reports, Benally said, came from people living in rural areas who heard a strange noise outside or from people in a sheep camp who saw strange car lights.

Police investigated all of these cases but only arrested 478 persons, mostly on alcohol-related charges. A total of 627 persons were arrested in 2006.

Curfew violations also took up a lot of time to handle both in 2006 and 2007, according to the reservation's crime statistics.

In 2006, police handled 305 calls or complaints. In 2007, this rose to 341.

Not much can be done in these instances if the youngster isn't found abusing alcohol or drugs, Benally said.

"If you take them home, you will usually find that their parents are somewhere else," he said. So, in many cases, the juveniles are taken to a relative's house for the night.

A total of 902 runaway children were reported last year (down sharply from 2006 when police reported 1,032 cases) but Benally said this is misleading.

"Most come back in a day or two," he said. "Less than 5 percent of these cases are actual runaways."

There were six cases of embezzlement reported in 2007, two more than in 2006, and most of these involved tribal employees, Benally said.

Summing up, Benally said the common thread reappearing throughout all the crime problems on the Navajo Reservation was a familiar one - alcohol abuse.

Easily 90 percent of the 233,451 cases investigated by police in 2007 and the 219,536 cases in 2006 were involved, either directly or indirectly, with alcohol abuse, he said.

While this may seem contradictory for a reservation where alcohol is prohibited, Benally said bootlegging is so widespread that it negates the effect of prohibition laws.

And he doesn't feel that legalizing alcohol sales would reduce the crime rate, saying, "It would probably make it worse."

Every community on the reservation has at least one bootlegger, Benally said.

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