Lanagan PD Reports Decreasing Crime Rate

RACHEL DICKERSON/MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Members of the Lanagan Police Department include (left) Officer Mac Lowe, Sgt. Christina Poitras, Chief Chris Creekmore, Captain Craig Peek, Reserve Sgt. Robert Criss, Lt. Josh Phillips. Not pictured: Officer Connor Hackworth, Officer Aaron Lemon, Officer Jon Chandler, Officer Bob Jacobus, Officer Daisy Henderson, Officer Jordan Wills, Officer Randy Wilson.
RACHEL DICKERSON/MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Members of the Lanagan Police Department include (left) Officer Mac Lowe, Sgt. Christina Poitras, Chief Chris Creekmore, Captain Craig Peek, Reserve Sgt. Robert Criss, Lt. Josh Phillips. Not pictured: Officer Connor Hackworth, Officer Aaron Lemon, Officer Jon Chandler, Officer Bob Jacobus, Officer Daisy Henderson, Officer Jordan Wills, Officer Randy Wilson.

The Lanagan Police Department reported a decrease in crime over the past year.

Chief Chris Creekmore said the crime rate has been going down incrementally year after year. He said, for example, the town had perhaps four DWIs in the past year.

Seven years ago, before the police department was revitalized, the town had a drug problem, Creekmore said. At the time the town had one officer. Now, with several more officers on hand and proactive policing in force, the drug problem has been "significantly reduced," Creekmore said.

The department welcomed one new officer in the past year, Daisy Henderson.

Also, the department acquired two used vehicles for its fleet through a Department of Defense government military surplus program. Both the vehicles are Ford Escapes. One of the vehicles is a hybrid, and the other one is a V6 all-wheel drive. The department picked up one of the vehicles at Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma, and they picked up the other one at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.