Editor's note: the following was submitted by Brown County Sheriff John Merchant 

I would like to provide  county residents of some 2018 statistics for the Brown County Sheriffs office.

For 2018, the  Brown County Sheriffs dispatch had received approximately 14,060  calls for service, approximately 40 calls per day,  this includes the City of Hiawatha, Town and Country Ambulance, Squad 48 and tribal police. Brown County deputies were responsible for approximately 8,841  of those calls for the 2018 year or approximately 24 calls/cases per day.

The following are most of the statistics of what was handled at the Brown County Sheriffs office level.

911 calls, misdials, hang-ups-----963
Warrants--197
Chase-pursuits-- 9
DUI, K-9  and narcotics-- 80
Accidents--273
Domestic--45
Animal calls--177
Traffic stops-2,042
Criminal damage--15
Assist other agencies-- 172
Assist motorists--    447
Community policing/civil-- 85
Illegal dumping--15
Alarm calls--60
Burglary/theft-- 57
Trespass--23
Offender registration-309
Process service—1,486
Pedestrian checks/suspicious  person--211
Vehicle unlock--295
VIN's--249
Reckless driving--    257
Welfare checks--99
Misc calls--245
Fire test--342
Transports-121
Road blocked-- 69

The jail portion of the Sheriffs Office has held over 600 different inmates in the 2018 year with an average daily population of 26.  These inmates are all arrests of Brown County entities. Very seldom do we house any  out of county inmates and if so, is done for a very short period of time under special circumstance.

Each deputy patrols an  average over 150-200  miles per shift, going through the small towns daily.  Vehicle stops are an important part of crime deterrent as  office presence is not favored by those who choose to break the law.  Statistics have proven that an active law enforcement agency has a major impact on reducing crime rates and according to the KBI CRIME INDEX for Brown County, we have the lowest crime rate in our
northeast Kansas area compared to other counties.  This refers only to the county crime rate, not the cities within the county.

I would like to express my thank you to our county residents for their cooperation and support of the Brown County Sheriffs office.

Many are very comfortable reporting issues that happen within the county which helps us solve crime due to increased patrol and passing on of the information to the appropriate authorities.