Homicide rates in 2024 already double what’s expected annually in Guernsey County

CAMBRIDGE − Right now, the Guernsey County Sheriff’s Office is working three cold cases, according to Sgt. Bill Patterson, and every detective handles anywhere from 50 to 75 cases annually.

“We’ve had three homicide investigations this year and we’ve assisted with two other homicides,” said Sgt. Patterson. “This is probably a busier year than normal.”

He said the sheriff’s office typically expects one to two homicides every year.

“To be at the halfway point of the year and already see as many homicides as we have, the numbers are already higher than in a year,” he said.

He said the heightened drug problem across the country that has found its way into every small town across America is certainly one reason, but the other, Patterson suspects, is the economy.

“In crashing economies people turn to elicit activities — they turn to crime to make money,” he said. “Our crime rate has always been higher when the economy is bad.”

He said the homicides he’s seen so far this year lean toward domestic violence issues.

“None of the cases have been where the suspect didn’t know the defendant,” he said. “There was some type of relationship in all of them. It’s the same thing we saw during the COVID lockdown — our domestic violence rates went sky high.”

It’s common, he said, to see more violent and large-scale crimes during economic downturns.

“When the country is in tough times, we start to see people turn to these types of actions to make ends meet,” he said. “But that’s no excuse to commit a crime.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Homicide rates in 2024 already double what’s expected annually in Guernsey County