It was with pleasure last week that we attached the following headline to a story, and then pinned it to the top of page 1A: “Robeson loses spot as tops in crime.”

Readers often forget: We are part of this community as well, and although crime stories drive readership, we much prefer safe neighborhoods.

The headline was attached to a story about the annual SBI report on crime in North Carolina for 2018, a compilation that is based on individual reports from law enforcement agencies from across the state. Not included in the report were crime statistics from the Parkton, Pembroke and Red Springs police departments, which did not provide information, according to the SBI. We don’t know why, but before you conclude the report cannot be trusted because it is incomplete, understand that it is based on a rate, not total number of crimes — so it has some value.

The report gives a figure for the number of violent and property crimes, which add up to an overall figure, for every 100,000 residents in a county. While the rate might have moved slightly up or down had those three departments participated, we doubt that any significant movement would have occurred.

So, should we conclude that Robeson County during 2017 was a safer place than during the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 when it ranked No. 1 in property and overalll crime each year, and No. 1 in violent crime in 2014 and 2015? We think so, but will offer some cautionary comments.

The SBI report is based on self-reporting, and individual police departments could — and we aren’t saying any locally are guilty — manipulate the report by not aggressively writing reports. So we urge a measure of skepticism.

But we also believe that the report, while potentially flawed, has some validity in comparing Robeson County’s crime rate with other counties, as well as itself from previous years.

We do think it is fair that Robeson’s ranking in 2017 as fifth in violent crime, sixth in property crime and fifth in overall crimes does in fact suggest a decrease in crime over previous years, and establishes a direction that we hope continues. But the ranking remains embarrassingly high, and is a major obstacle as this county tries to better itself through the recruitment of industry and professional people, including teachers. Crime is a major turnoff for anyone shopping.

We think it’s important to note that 11 months of 2018 expired before the current sheriff, Burnis Wilkins, took office, and although he was interviewed for the story, to his credit, he pointed that out in our story as well as on social media.

Which begs a question: What can a sheriff, or law enforcement in general, do to prevent crime? It’s a question without a dependable answer, but we will say this: If law enforcement is successful in rounding up and arresting the bad guys, and the judicial system does its part, then there should be fewer criminals on the streets.

Wilkins has said repeatedly that most of the crime in Robeson County, violent or property, can be linked strongly to drugs — and no one who reads this newspaper or follows the Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page would argue with that. Wilkins campaigned on a promise to fight drug trafficking in Robeson County, and it’s clear to us that has been a priority.

2019 will be the next SBI crime report, and Wilkins was sheriff for that entire year. It will be interesting to see if in 2019 Robeson County develops a trend or reverts back. And it will be of even more interest to see the effect, if any, that the Sheriff’s Office’s war on drugs has had on the crime rate.