SPANISH FORT, Ala.—Violent crime in the city of Spanish Fort increased 35 percent between 2007 and 2008, but the percentage of cases cleared by the 14-member police department during the period was almost twice the state’s rate of 19 percent and three times Baldwin County’s clearance rate of only 11 percent.

“Percentages are a little misleading when you look at a place as small as Spanish Fort, so we look at them, certainly, but we’re more concerned with longer-term trends,” said Spanish Fort Police Chief David Edgar.

For instance, the city reported only one vehicle theft during 2008, and Edgar remembered instantaneously the vehicle in question belonged to a Patrician Drive man. The car was recovered, but no arrests were made. Still, the single incident constituted a 100 percent increase compared with 2007 when zero vehicles were stolen.

And while Edgar said the city’s 35 percent clearance rate seems impressive in comparison to larger locales, his department—now 20 strong—prefers to focus on each individual crime.

“We know not all crimes can be solved—and that some never will be—but we try to do what we can to solve as many as we can because even if your clearance rate tells you you only had one outstanding case in a category, that’s one too many for the victim of that crime,” he said.

See the rest of this story in the June 4 Spanish Fort Sun.