Crime holding steady in city, county
By Ashleigh Plemper
Farmer Staff Writer
As the pandemic of COVID-19 has had lasting implications on the world, it has destroyed the lives of a number of people in the community. But it hasn’t eradicated the cases of crime for local law enforcement.
While calls for service for the Watford City Police Department (WCPD) decreased from 18,507 in 2020 to 13,282 in 2021, the McKenzie County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) saw its number of calls for service increase by approximately 2,157 as the MCSO received 15,631 calls compared to 13,474 in 2020.
And according to McKenzie County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Lieutenant Max Kasner, there’s been a higher amount of incidents regarding industrial theft.
“There’s been a lot of theft calls,” he says. “Our biggest issue is copper, specifically copper from well pads.”
With 131 calls for service involving theft and fraud in McKenzie County last year, Kasner says there were 120 verified offenses of theft and fraud crimes committed.
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