Crime_Time's blog

Robbery, 6:55 p.m., 200 blk Parry Ave.
Case #08-35158
A woman was unloading groceries when someone ran up behind her and snatched her purse. He fled in a royal blue PT Cruiser or Scion west on Miller Avenue. The man was described as a white male with long brown hair and dark clothes.

Drunk Driving Warrant, 10:45 p.m., 936 McHenry Ave.
Case #08-35227
Officers arrested 39-year-old John Ryan at the Roadway Inn. He had a $25,000 warrant in connection with a drunk driving incident. He was booked.

Modesto Police Department, 4/20/08 to 4/21/08

Suspicious person / Warrant, 9:50 p.m., 12th and F Streets
Case # 08-34907
An off-duty Modesto police officer saw someone lurking around the Police Department's evidence building. Officers contacted the subject who had a drug warrant for his arrest. 

Possessing controlled substance, 2:21 a.m, 936 McHenry Ave.
Case # 08-34946
An officer pulled into the Roadway Inn and saw a suspicious vehicle with several people standing around it. He spoke with a subject who was on probation. During a probation search, the officer found .82 grams of methamphetamine in the vehicle. The subject was arrested and booked.

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We're hoping to start posting a daily police blotter online once we work out some communication kinks with law enforcement agencies in the area.

Here's a sampling of what that might look like:

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It seems like everyone has a break-in story, whether it's your neighbor, you or even the insurance agent on the phone when you make your claim about lost goods. Maybe that's not surprising, given that Stanislaus County has one of the highest burglary rates in the state.

In December 2007, for example, there were more than 1,000 reported burglary victims from Manteca to Turlock. The value of their lost property? Some $1.6 million.

Do you have a story to share? If so, just comment on this post.

And check out The Bee's burglary packages Sunday and Monday for an in-depth look at many facets of this problem.

A new report from the Washington-based Justice Policy Institute says that jails are filled with people with drug addictions, the homeless, and people charged with immigration offenses. It concludes that jails have become the "new asylums," with six out of 10 people in jail living with a mental illness. The nation's jail population has nearly doubled in less than two decades

In 2004, local governments spent $97 billion on criminal justice, including police, the courts and jails. More than $19 billion of county money went to financing jails alone. During the same time period, local governments spent $8.7 billion on libraries and only $28 billion on higher education.

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The Oregonian wrote today about an overhaul of the Multnomah County Sheriff's Department Web site so that it now includes booking photos of everyone in jail. The site shows mug shots, ages, criminal charges, visiting hours and the amount of bail needed to get someone out. This sounds like a great public service. 

There's something inherently fascinating about seeing who commits crimes. The faces, for example, of johns and prostitutes arrested on a sting in December jumped into the top five online and was one of the most talked about features of the article.

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