DUI arrests doubled in Chelan according to 2018 data

CHELAN –  According to Chief of Special Operations Jason Reinfeld in 2018, 92 people were arrested for DUIs in the city of Chelan. That is double the cases from 2017.

Reinfeld presented the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office statistics, differences and similarities between 2017 and 2018 to the Chelan City Council during the Jan. 22 meeting.

He first reported on the self-initiated infractions from the officers patrolling the streets. Speeding infractions in Chelan was one of the most significant increases from 2017 to last year.

Nothing compares to the increase of DUIs in the city, “This is something that is real to our hiring … our newer Deputies are out there fighting these DUIs,” said Reinfeld. However, DUIs have increased across the region, not only in Chelan. In Chelan County alone DUIs there were 289 last year.

Deputies response calls was another of the categories Reinfeld reported on. Arrests from domestic violence calls decreased by half. “On the other side of it we had almost three times as many regular assaults in fourth degree … maybe it happened in a bar, or on the street … this requires a report and a victim who wants to press charges against the suspect,” said Reinfeld. Only 23 shoplifting arrests were made in 2018, which is a decrease from the previous year. Another concern was amount of trespasses, mainly in downtown corridor.

Mayor Mike Cooney asked Reinfeld to give the council updates on the Sherriff’s Office relation with Immigration and ICE. “We partner with Homeland Security and ICE in Wenatchee for investigations, a lot of them on the drug side … we do not go out and seek immigration violations at all,” clarified Reinfeld.

Marine Patrol Deputy Ryan Moody,  went over the Marine Program. He also reported back on some general statistics.

The Marine Program is ran by Moody and another a part-time Deputy during the summer. Sargent Chris Foreman oversees the program. There are five active volunteers that help on day to day stuff. Twenty other Deputies are also Marine Patrol certified.

The unit is responsible for patrolling Lake Chelan, 70 miles of the Columbia River, Lake Wenatchee, Wapato Lake and the Wenatchee River. Three boats are used for unit operations. They are kept in Manson Bay, Chelan Marina and Wenatchee.

Last year, 95 percent of water hours were reported to be in Lake Chelan. “Our on-water hours were 415 hours, officer on-water hours are 657.”

The number of written inspections were 330 and 175 of them passed, the number is combined from water inspections and boat rentals.
“We did nine separate visits of rental boat companies last year for a total of hours of 40 hours,” said Moody.

The Unit assisted 32 boats for non-emergencies, and there was three Marine search and rescue protocols with 17 people assisted.

In 2018, there were only six reported boating accident. “To be reported there either has to be an injury that requires hospitalization or over $2,000 in damage.”

However, Moody doesn’t think that number represents what happens on the lake. He said that many of the boat rental companies do not report accidents.

Moody informed the council that he will be working on repositioning the eight water buoys so they are more visible for people to see. Along with that he will be marking each buoy in the GPS system.

The Marine Patrol officers also presented 12 times to the schools, during one of those days they focused on teaching the kids boat safety protocols.