In the 48 hours since New Year's Eve, the Pennington County Sheriff's Office and the Rapid City Police Department have investigated 15 assaults and several domestic violence disputes.

It's one of the most violent starts for a new year that Sgt. Matt Sargent has seen in his 15 years with the Pennington County Sheriff's Department.

Investigations are continuing, and details on individual cases were not available Friday. Sargent said that nearly countless contributing factors could be behind the number of assaults, including timing of New Year's making for an extended holiday weekend.

New Year's Eve celebrations almost always produce cases for law enforcement, but the current numbers are extreme, he said.

"Am I surprised? No. Is it higher than usual? Absolutely," Sargent said.

Calls to Rapid City domestic abuse shelters and women's shelters to find out if there were increases in families taking refuge were not returned.

Neighboring counties are not experiencing the Rapid City area's trend.

Sgt. Bob Lehrkamp of the Meade County Sheriff's Office agreed that historically, there is a slight rise in assaults during the holidays but said there has not been an unusual number so far in 2009 in the Sturgis area.

"We have had some domestic violence calls and some assaults. But I've not heard of anything out of the normal amount," he said. "Sometimes it's like night and day between us and Pennington County."

Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler also said he had not noted any significant rise in assaults or domestic violence, nor has Butte County Sheriff Fred Lamphere.

On New Year's Eve, Lamphere and his officers were out in force, making plenty of contacts with drivers, but he said it was a quiet welcome for the New Year.

"No, we haven't received any assault calls or responded to any," Lamphere said of the previous 48 hours. "We didn't even have a DUI arrest."

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com