Camas crime rates fell in 2023

Camas Police Chief Tina Jones shared some positive data with members of the Camas City Council this week.

“We had a reduction in nearly every area,” Jones said, pointing to decreases in motor vehicle thefts, rapes, kidnapping, intimidation and stolen property crimes.

The same was true statewide, Jones added.

“Statewide, in 2023, it was good news,” she told the Council. “We had an increase in crime (prior to 2023), but these trends are coming down across the state. We’ve had decreases in violent crimes, property crimes (and crimes) against persons.”

And while data showed drug-related crimes in Camas increased from 2022 to 2023, Jones cautioned that those numbers likely reflect changes in state laws surrounding police officers’ ability to enforce various drug laws.

“We had an increase in drug and narcotic violations, but we have had some legal updates and law changes,” Jones told the Council members during their meeting on Monday, Aug. 5. “So, it wasn’t that we had sudden influx of drugs in our city. We were allowed to enforce.”

Jones added that, despite recent public attention to fentanyl, other drugs seem to be causing more harm in Clark County and in Camas.

“We’ve heard so much in last couple of years about fentanyl, and it is issue in our community, but methamphetamines and stimulants are still a huge issue community-wid,” Jones said, adding that a recent report from the Clark County Medical Examiner’s office shows more people in Clark County overdosed on methamphetamines than on fentanyl in 2023.

“I wanted to highlight where perception might not meet reality,” Jones said.

The police chief responded to recent questions about crimes in Camas’ parks, and said she went through every call for service in a park that police fielded in 2023.

Between August 2023 and August 2024, the police department had 155 log entries related to the parks, but the majority were related to theft or found property, vandalism or graffiti or welfare checks. When it came to drug use needles, and that was last August when a public works employee found needles during a cleanup and wanted us to be aware,” Jones said. “The data suggests needle use is not widespread or a primary issue in our parks.”

The police chief said she was “encouraged and uplifted,” however, by the number of people who called to report they’d found someone else’s property in a park, including several wallets and sets of keys.

According to the data, the Camas Police Department had around 1,500 calls for service in 2023, including reports of “major group A” crimes that included: larceny-theft offenses (261 down from 282 in 2022); burglary (41, which was the same in 2022); motor vehicle thefts (40 down from 51 in 2022); fraud (46 down from 54 in 2022); stolen property (3 down from 7 in 2022); simple assaults (68 reported, down from 71 in 2022); intimidation (10 down from 19 in 2022); rape (1 compared to 4 in 2022); kidnapping (1 versus 5 in 2022); no-contact order violations (17 down from 18 in 2022); and weapon law violations (3 down from 7 in 2022).

Camas police also reported an increase in 2023 arrests for arson (5 up from 1 in 2022); drug violations (3 up from 1 in 2022); destruction of property (135 up from 133 in 2022); robbery (2 up from none in 2022); animal cruelty (3 up from none in 2022); embezzlement (1 up from none in 2022); and aggravated assault (4 up from 3 in 2022).

Camas police also arrested 87 adults and 17 juveniles for less serious crimes, classified as “group B” crimes, such as drunkenness, disorderly conduct and driving under the influence in 2023.

Overall, Jones said, Camas remained a safe community in 2023.

“We have very low crime in our city, which is something to celebrate,” Jones said. “But we still have crime. It’s good to have these low numbers, but these numbers (still impact) people.”

Jones used domestic violence crimes as an example. In 2023, Camas recorded more than 50 domestic violence calls, including 25 that included a minor injury.

“Luckily, we had nothing major, but these (domestic violence incidents) are events that impact people, children,” Jones said. “No community is immune from domestic violence, unfortunately.”

The report showed that of the Camas crimes in 2023 involving a weapon, five involved firearms, three involved knives or other cutting instruments, 13 involved a personal weapon such as hands or feet and seven involved another type of weapon.

Jones said the majority of the crimes against people were perpetrated by someone known to the victim — 146 crimes in which the perpetrator was someone known versus 46 crimes in which the perpetrator was a stranger.

“Most people who experience a crime, it’s by somebody they know,” Jones said. “There is a fear of ‘stranger danger,’ but data shows it’s otherwise.”