Jill Schramm/MDN Ward County Sheriff Robert Roed, right, meets with Lt. Jamie Williams, civil process officer, to look over statistics on civil actions such as evictions and foreclosures in 2020.

The Ward County Sheriff’s Office saw a slight decrease in calls for service and a lower jail inmate count in 2020, but the number of incidents and arrests held steady during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alcohol-related incidents and domestic violence proved the most problematic, according to the statistics.

“We continue to operate with high numbers statistically for most categories and divisions. We continue to be aggressive in many areas to include fundraising and looking for grants with the overall safety of the citizens of Ward County as our main priority,” the department stated in its 2020 annual report. “We implemented a K9 unit to the patrol division in June. We have already seen the positive and significant results from the K9 unit.”

In six months, the K9 unit accounted for more than 17% of drugs confiscated during the year, including much of the fentanyl. The narcotics squad seized more than 11,612 grams, or nearly 26 pounds, of illegal drugs, including marijuana, in 2020.

Overall, the department responded to 19,236 calls for service, down 1,270 from 2019, for a daily average of 52.7 calls. Calls have been gradually declining from a peak of 22,514 in 2017.

Noncriminal traffic violations also were down about 28% from 2019, and traffic crashes were down as well. However, Sheriff Robert Roed said underage alcohol consumption reached a five-year high and driving under the influence incidents were higher than they have been since 2016. There were 116 DUI incidents in 2020.

Other 2020 statistics showed:

– 1,194 arrests covering 1,256 separate offenses, up by 304 arrests from 2019.

– 1,122 cases received by the investigations division, or 51 more cases than in 2019.

– 18 assaults among adults and 26 assaults among juveniles that resulted in law enforcement action, although only six of those assaults were the more serious aggravated assaults.

“The domestic violence calls have consistently remained at an alarmingly high number with another increase in 2020,” according to the annual report. There were 222 calls, up 16 from 2019 and the highest number in the past five years.

The Civil Process Division served or returned 6,132 pieces of civil process in 2020, down from 7,120 in 2019. The numbers showed:

– 417 delinquent property-tax accounts for collection. As of the end of February 2021, all but 30 delinquent accounts were resolved.

– 72 requests to schedule sales associated with foreclosures.

– 108 judgments for collection.

– 195 evictions.

– 36 requests for law enforcement security at various events.

Evictions peaked in February 2020 before taking a sudden, drastic drop as pandemic relief measures came into play. Foreclosures also saw a somewhat later spike and a precipitous drop in May, with no foreclosures in June. June was the first month with no foreclosures since 2015, Roed said.

At the jail in 2020, staff booked 3,612 individuals on various charges, down from 4,743 in 2019 and the lowest in five years. However, the number of inmate dates (number of prisoners times the number of days incarcerated) increased by nearly 11,000 to 52,848.

Roed said efforts have been made to keep numbers in the 286-bed jail below 170 inmates to maintain social distancing during the pandemic. There were 136 inmates housed this past Thursday.

To hold down the jail population, many individuals charged with misdemeanors were released to appear in the court, only to now face warrants for failure to appear, Roed said.

There was more outside use of the jail during the pandemic. The jail billed more than $1.16 million to other agencies for housing inmates. That was up from $395,724 in 2019 and $237,012 in 2018.

The jail also spent $644,565 on inmate medical care in 2020.

The juvenile detention center housed 52 juveniles from 11 North Dakota counties and two other states in 2020. This was down from 85 juveniles housed in 2019 and a peak of 126 juveniles housed in 2017.

“For the past couple of years we haven’t housed as many juveniles but we house them for longer term,” Roed said. “They have been charged with more serious crimes.”

As of Thursday, the juvenile detention center was empty, a situation that hasn’t happened in more than a year, Roed said. These reprieves are useful for cleaning, maintenance and giving time off to staff who have been putting in extra hours, he said.

Also during 2020, the Sheriff Department’s 41 law enforcement officers collectively participated in 3,455 hours of training. Jail staff training totaled 1,564 hours, exceeding the training standard set by the state.

The jail continues to provide training for a three-week basic corrections class that it initiated some years ago. Two training sessions were offered in 2020 to 27 officers representing seven different agencies in North Dakota.