Should Mammoth change its name to Mayberry?

Overall crime statistics down 27 percent in 2010 versus 2009

Mammoth Lakes Police Chief Dan Watson recently announced that reported crime in Mammoth Lakes saw a 27 percent decrease in 2010 over 2009. This decrease excludes the reports of rape and robbery which increased and stayed the same, respectively.

Traffic collisions, however, increased by 18 percent in 2010, according to Chief Watson.

“While the overall crime statistics reflect a positive change, the Town of Mammoth Lakes gets relatively little crime, so it’s not unusual for the numbers to fluctuate dramatically,” Watson explained.

As for the increase in collisions, Watson hypothesized that “Perhaps the severe winter contributed to the increase in collisions,” adding that “the data will be further analyzed to determine where directed traffic patrols should focus attention.”

Crime statistics broke down in the following way: there were zero homicides reported in 2009 and 2010; there were two rapes reported in 2009 and six reported in 2010; two robberies were reported in both 2009 and 2010; there were 109 assaults in 2009 and 88 in 2010; 96 burglaries in 2009 and 68 in 2010; 225 reports of larceny in 2009 and 156 in 2010, ans 10 reports of vehicle theft in 2009 while only 6 in 2010. –LK