Park City has seen a spike in crime this past year.
In 2013, the number of burglaries doubled — increasing from 27 to 55.
Police Chief Phil Bostain said of the burglaries, 20 occurred in businesses and the remaining 35 occurred in homes.
A number of factors contributed to the increase, including the fact that the police department had to cut back on officers the year prior, Bostain said. Then, in 2013, four officers left the department for various reasons and his job wasn’t filled until April 1.
Bostain does not believe any people are a target, but he said the conviction of serial burglars has helped curb crime recently.
“We did see a drop in our burglaries after they were arrested, so it’s possible that they were tied together. We just don’t know,” he said.
In 2012, for every 1,000 people, these were the number of property crimes for cities in Sedgwick County:
Eastborough — 0
Bel Aire — 9.8
Rose Hill — 13.9
Valley Center — 17.3
Maize — 19.7
Goddard — 21.2
Derby — 22.1
Andover — 24
Park City — 25
Haysville — 26.1
Augusta — 34.9
Wichita — 54.6
— Data according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigations
Bostain said though crime is typically low in the city, residents should always consider safety.
“Just the simple things: lock your doors, make sure you don’t give an appearance that your home is unoccupied, have your neighbors watch out for you, and then, of course, report if you see any suspicious activity,” he said.
Sure, nice excuse, “residents should always consider safety”, who wrote this? Tonto?