Community members voiced concern about crime in Hermiston at Monday night’s City Council meeting, following a flurry of robberies last week.

Joe Thompson, owner of Eastside Market, specifically asked the council to consider funding extra evening patrols.

My concern is this past week is the three robberies that happened in town, Thomson told the council, adding that just a day after the robberies, there were only two officers patrolling during the evening hours. I understand budgets are tight. (But) public safety should be paramount.

Mayor Bob Severson took issue with Thomson during the public comment period, saying that some crime is unavoidable.

You’re going to have a robbery once in a while, Severson said. They’re just going to happen.

Thomson, however, focused on addressing police funding as a way to increase patrols. Council member Rod Hardin added that when Hermiston had its own jail cells, officers did not have to deal with repeat offenders as much, freeing them to prevent other crimes.

Hermiston resident John Kirwan addressed a similar issue, focusing on gang activity and graffiti in Hermiston.

Do all of you believe we have a burgeoning gang problem? Kirwan asked the council.

Kirwan was specifically concerned about graffiti, or tagging, in Hermiston as it relates to gang activity, and expressed concern that Hermiston could soon see the kinds of gang problems experienced in Sunnyside, Wash., and Grandview, Wash.

Chief of Police Dan Coulombe acknowledged gangs exist in Hermiston.

We have membership in several sets that we know of, Coulombe said. Currently, our activity in the city is low.

Hardin, a member of the public safety committee and Community Accountability Board, added part of the reason gang crimes have been low for a city of Hermiston’s size has been a cooperative effort between community groups, business owners and the police department.

I think one of the reasons we’re not the way (Grandview and Sunnyside) are is because we have been proactive, Hardin said.

Coulombe emphasized the point by comparing Hermiston to Umatilla County and Pendleton in a presentation to the council. Of all crimes committed in 2009, the most recent year for which data was available, Hermiston police cleared, or made arrests for, more than 50 percent of those incidents. The clearance rate for violent crimes was much higher.

Seventy-five percent of violent crimes, we solve, Coulombe said. These numbers are two and three times the national average.

By comparison, according to data Coulombe presented, Pendleton clears just more than 45 percent of violent crimes while the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office clears just 33.3 percent.

Despite the high clearance rate, Coulombe wasn’t ready to turn away more officers.

I’ll take 10 cops tomorrow, Coulombe said, adding the department has recently added a new recruit, and will also have one officer returning from deployment overseas in December.

The council also passed five ordinances dealing with the city’s comprehensive plan that will address economic, industrial and housing needs for the next 20 years. Prior to passage, the council heard public testimony on the ordinances.