Violent Crimes in Walla Walla Down 3 Years in A Row

Were it not for a bizarre state law, Walla Walla's violent crime rate would have dropped even more impressively.

The Walla Walla Police Department has released their annual crime-statistics report, and for the 3rd year in a row, violent crimes are down (murder, attempted murder, rape-sexual assault, assault).  In 2017 there were 131 such crimes reported, 116 in 2018 and last year just 109.

However, because of a state law that doesn't make any sense, violent crimes that occur INSIDE the State Penitentiary are required to be counted as part of the city's crime data--even though they don't affect residents and police have no way to prevent them.  24 of those 109 crimes occurred inside the walls of the State Pen, making the city's actual violent crime total only 85.

The city responded to a total of 30,334 calls for service, an average of 83 a day, wrote up 4416 reports, and made a total of 1617 arrests.

To view more of the report, click on the button below.