Living
deliberately
Belichick unsure how
balls were deflated
COAST WEEKEND
SPORTS • 7A
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015
142nd YEAR, No. 147
ONE DOLLAR
Long
Beach
school
bursts
at seams
Elementary’s
enrollment surge
continues to grow
By KATIE WILSON
EO Media Group
Daily Astorian file
Astoria Police Officer Cory Gerig drives up 16th Street while patrolling the streets on a rainy Friday.
ASTORIA POLICE: BY THE NUMBERS
Police Chief Brad Johnston releases
¿UVWSXEOLFDQQXDOUHSRUWLQ\HDUV
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
F
jumped from 63 in 2011 to 89 in
2014.
“That is a huge increase,”
Johnston said. “It has been a
downward trend that really
took off this past year.”
or the first time in at
least two decades, As-
toria Police Depart-
ment publicly released an
On the street
annual report detailing sta-
The report highlights the
tistics, completed projects
roles of each division of
and new programs.
the Police Department, in-
Brad Johnston, appoint-
cluding dispatch, records,
ed police chief in Novem-
investigations and the more
ber after nearly 23 years
with the Police Department, Brad Johnston well-known patrol divi-
sion.
said annual reports
Astoria
dis-
used to be sent in
patch, one of two
a memo format
public safety an-
along with budget
swering points in
requests to the As-
Clatsop County,
toria City Council
answered
about
Budget Committee
73,000 nonemer-
and not directly re-
gency calls and
leased to the public.
13,000 calls to 911,
For years, John-
resulting in a total
ston said, he had the
of 44,500 calls for
concept to compile a
service to subscriber
more detailed report
agencies, which include
and release it. Now as
the Sheriff’s Office, War-
chief, Johnston completed
renton Police and area fire
that goal.
departments.
“It’s part of the process I
In 2014, the investigation di-
want to give the community of
vision handled 167 cases.
openness and approachability,” John-
Patrol division personnel — made
ston said.
A telling aspect of the report is up of 10 officers, two sergeants and
the dispatch statistics that show what a deputy chief — are the first re-
types and how many calls the Police sponders and have at least two police
Department receives each year. Since officers on the streets every hour of
2011, dispatch received an increase every day.
Johnston said he talks to many
in calls for disturbances, traffic com-
plaints, motor vehicle crashes and people who have no idea of the size
of his department. Some people think
forgery and fraud cases.
One of the other troubling increas- there are five or six officers on patrol
es was in the category of “Sick Per- at one time, when the number is two
son Cared For,” which are calls for to three.
mental health issues, Johnston said.
See POLICE, Page 10A
Calls for “Sick Person Cared For”
Astoria Police Department
calls for service *
(Classification by APD dispatchers are preliminary.)
Call type
Traffic stop
Hang-up 911
Other all
Traffic cite
Disturbance
Suspicious circumstances
Property crimes
Interview, field
Traffic roads
Information
Traffic complaint
Dog/animal complaints
Motor vehicle accident
Assist other agency
Phone contact
Property found
Warrant arrest
Follow up entries
Alarm false
Miscellaneous
Assist rendered
Truck inspection
Welfare check
Abandon/junk
DHS referral
Warrant information
MVA, hit & run
Property lost
Forgery/fraud
Missing person
Trespass
Sick person cared for
Attempt to locate
Drugs (all)
Assorted other
2011
3,289
928
1,161
689
834
978
700
500
849
436
14
258
275
42
—
186
203
126
188
117
375
54
60
183
196
107
115
83
55
78
3
63
34
62
346
2012
2,799
963
1,284
1,005
985
977
659
611
455
505
344
262
284
290
120
195
188
135
181
65
79
181
170
142
135
107
97
96
58
86
45
52
62
63
480
2013
2,845
1,360
1,115
1,327
1,022
823
641
667
395
354
449
289
267
358
322
213
209
205
162
197
115
220
189
156
149
126
97
110
111
69
76
44
68
58
512
2014
2,540
1,451
1,126
931
1,052
839
554
612
322
443
504
359
305
371
451
253
212
336
174
323
104
214
214
150
148
94
119
109
144
72
171
89
68
24
458
*After further investigation, some calls may be formally categorized as something different
than its initial classification.
Source: Astoria Police Department
LONG BEACH, Wash. — As stu-
dent enrollment continues to go up at
Long Beach Elementary, the Ocean
Beach School District is confronting
overcrowding issues long before it
expected it would need to.
“It’s becoming a bigger priority
than it was before,” said Superinten-
dent Jenny Risner. “Because they’ve
continued to increase enrollment
throughout the year, it’s forced us
to look at it a little earlier than we
anticipated to still stay ahead of the
curve.”
Long Beach Elementary has 281
students this year, a 7.5 percent in-
crease over last year, said Todd
See SCHOOL, Page 10A
DUII
dispute
could
end soon
District attorney
will likely appeal
ruling, just in case
By DERRICK DEPLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
The Astoria Police Department
formally changed its policy manual
Wednesday afternoon, instructing
RI¿FHUV WR ¿OH PLVGHPHDQRU GUXQN-
en-driving citations in Circuit Court
instead of the city’s Municipal Court.
Brad Johnston, the police chief
and assistant city manager, took the
swift action after the City Council
voted Tuesday night to recommend
the transfer of DUII prosecutions to
Circuit Court.
The back-to-back moves could
quickly end the long-running legal
dispute between the city and Clatsop
County District Attorney Josh Mar-
quis, who has sought jurisdiction
over the DUII prosecutions, arguing
that Circuit Court offers a higher
Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
See DISPUTE, Page 10A
At Westminster show, 2 new breeds, bigger agility contest
By JENNIFER PELTZ
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Eleven-year-old
Emma Rogers is only six years older
than her great Dane and half the size,
but she’s set to squire her dog in the ring
at this year’s Westminster Kennel Club
show.
At 80, Marge Yonda is looking for-
ward to leading her standard poodle
through the fast-paced agility competi-
tion — a pursuit Yonda took up when she
stopped running marathons at 73.
There’s plenty of variety among the
people, as well as the dogs, participat-
ing in American dogdom’s most presti-
gious event next month. It will feature
two new breeds and a bigger lineup of
dogs in an agility contest, which brought
new dimension to the show last year and
marked the return of mixed-breed dogs
IRUWKH¿UVWWLPHVLQFHLWVHDUO\\HDUV
ONLINE
www.westminsterkennelclub.org
Emma will face much older handlers
and show a dog over twice her weight,
so big that Emma has to lift hard to posi-
tion the legs of the Dane, named Joy. But
Emma’s used to the double-takes and un-
fazed by the competition.
“With Joy, she’s easy — most of the
time,” Emma said Wednesday after ap-
pearing at a news conference with her
twin sister, Faith, and 17-year-old sis-
ter, Sophia, who also are showing dogs
at Westminster. The Columbus, N.J.,
family’s pastime started with a sugges-
AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
tion from Joy’s breeder, and mom Kim
5RJHUVVRRQFDPHWRVHHWKHEHQH¿WV³,W Chanel and Burberry, both cotons de tulear dogs owned by Justine
teaches responsibility and winning and Romano from Montville, N.J. , pose during a press preview for the
139th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Wednesday in New
See DOG SHOW, Page 10A York. Both will be presented as new breeds at Westminster Feb. 16-17.