DACUSVILLE — According to a report from the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, a television news report stating there has been a significant increase in home burglaries in the Dacusville area is erroneous and unfounded, leading to concern in the community and false reports on social media.

Identifying the Dacusville area by the geographic area of the Dacusville fire district, the numbers presented by PCSO officials shows there were 12 reported and investigated incidents of burglary from June 2014 through the end of August 2014. The numbers of those incidents has instead declined, contrary to the aired report for the same period of 2015 to nine.

The result is a 25 percent decline from 2014 to 2015. PCSO detectives are currently following several leads in an attempt to identify the perpetrators of those still outstanding.

According to a statement issued by PCSO, the department was neither “interviewed or asked for input prior to the story being aired” and PCSO officials received a single request for two incident reports concerning two residences that had suffered break-ins during August.

“As a lifelong resident of Pickens County, I have faith and trust that our citizens will not be lured into the pitfalls of misinformation,” Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark stated. “Our local media outlets work very closely with law enforcement and I truly believe that they want to keep viewers informed. However, technology such as social media has often times been the pathway to spread unverified information leading to panic and paranoia which ultimately leads our communities to develop the wrong perception. It is no secret that all counties have burglaries, thefts and drug problems but together through a strong partnership with our citizens and small business owners we will continue to keep the criminals in Pickens County on the run.”

Not only was the aired news report incorrect, the overall statistics for burglaries for the entire county were down following 2013 with 646 reported incidents across Pickens County, 223 of which were solved. 2014 saw that number fall to 594 and through the end of August2015, 372 had been reported. In 2014, 190 of the cases were solved and to date 117 of the reported 372 burglaries in the county have been solved.

PCSO Chief Deputy Creed Hashe said there are three reasons Pickens County has seen a reduction in burglaries, as well as other crimes since 2013.

First is the implementation of a Community Action Team, comprised of six members which focus on “street level” crime.

According to Hashe the team focuses on low level crimes such as drug use which has since been linked to higher level crimes such as burglary.

By arresting the offenders of the lower level crimes or “disorders in communities” many of the offenders are taken off the streets and other crimes solved in the process.

Second is the involvement of Neighborhood Watch programs and community members, as well as the involvement of Sheriff Clark in those programs as well. By participating in the meetings of the watch programs, there has been more interaction by the community in reporting possible criminal activity to PCSO officials.

Finally Hashe cited the restructuring of the county into six zones instead of two following Clark’s election and first days in office. By restructuring the county, PCSO resources are able to be better deployed, increasing presence in the communities in an organized way with the increased presence deterring crime.

“We are the first to recognize the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office has yet to stop crime in Pickens County but the reduction in crime continues and by continuing to reduce the number of incidents across the board is progress,” Hashe said. “Even with that being said, we also know one burglary anywhere is one too many.”

By D. C. Moody

dmoody@civitasmedia.com

Reach D. C. Moody at 864-855-0355.