“Crime is not on the increase,” Sheriff says

During the final year of Mike Crenshaw’s first term as Oconee Sheriff, crime overall did not increase.  Crenshaw delivered his annual report today covering the year 2016, when the county recorded only one homicide—compared to two during the previous year.  In another example, the county narcotics unit uncovered seven meth labs in 2016, compared with 22 during 2015.  Drugs remain a concern, however, as Crenshaw expressed the fear that Oconee County, like other parts of the country, will begin to see increases in the use of heroin and opioids.  He said he is aware of at least two Oconee County deaths last year due to the synthetic opioid fentanyl.  The 9-1-1 division of the Sheriff’s Office was busy in 2016, receiving nearly 81,500 calls.  And the average daily population of 168 inmates at the first-year Oconee Detention Center was higher in 2016 than the last year of the old jail.  Crenshaw stressed the importance of increasing school officer presence in the public schools, in the aftermath of last year’s shootings at the Townville school.