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BACKUS-While the number of calls for service Cass County Sheriff's Department receives annually has climbed steadily since 2009, the number of serious crimes the department handled has declined in recent years.

This was part of the sheriff's annual report Sgt. Bradley Rittgers presented to the county board Tuesday.

The department received 21,390 calls for service in 2015. The number of serious crimes dropped from 325 in 2011 and 2012 to 253 in 2015. There has been a sharp reduction in burglaries.

The serious crimes in 2015 included 20 felony assaults, 168 burglaries, one homicide, 10 criminal vehicular operation, one kidnapping and 53 cases of criminal sexual conduct. The burglaries are down from 265 in 2010.

Deputies arrested 47 people who were driving under the influence of alcohol. The suspects averaged .17 blood alcohol concentration in 2015. The highest 2015 driving while under the influence blood alcohol concentration was .28.

There were 256 motor vehicle accidents without injuries in Cass County last year, 208 vehicle accidents with deer resulting in no injuries, 102 vehicle accidents with injuries and four each of vehicle-deer accidents with injuries and fatal motor vehicle accidents.

In 2015, 93 percent of the people calling 911 in Cass County used a cell phone instead of a landline.

The sheriff issued fewer permits to purchase a gun (372) in 2015, but more permits to carry a gun (428), the reverse of 2014.

Cass County has 939 outstanding warrants for individuals. Of those, 416 are for felony cases, 158 for gross misdemeanor offenses and 365 for misdemeanors. The county cleared warrants that had been outstanding in 2015 for 387 felony offenses, 147 gross misdemeanor offenses and 343 misdemeanors.

Rittgers informed the board the average countywide response time to calls for service has dropped from five or six minutes to closer to four minutes. Part of this is due to the ability for the sheriff's computer system to pinpoint electronically on a map for dispatchers the closest squad vehicle to the caller's location.

In addition to serving rural Cass County areas, the sheriff provides local police service under contract with the cities of Cass Lake, Backus and Longville.

Another change the sheriff is seeing is an increase in female prisoners. Rittgers said many of these inmates are charged with drug-related offenses.

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