Burglary, Other Crimes Stay Steady in 2010; Thefts Decrease

Police were busier last year than they were in 2009, but the actual number of crimes stayed about the same.

The department's annual report shows officers responded to 25,132 calls in 2010, 2,307 more than the previous year.

But the increase in calls was largely due to motor vehicle accidents, alarms going off, residents seeking help with car lockouts and lost or found property, the report shows.

Thefts from vehicles, vandalism, assaults, breaking and entering and weapons offenses all dipped a bit in 2010, while shoplifting, liquor violations and thefts from yards went up.

Some numbers: 

Robbery -- 12 (9 in 2009); assault -- 102; (105 in 2009); menacing -- 73 (76); arson -- 2 (4); burglary 96 (95); breaking and entering -- 29 (36); auto theft -- 31 (34); fraud -- 167 (181); weapons offenses -- 24 (45); drug complaints -- 126 (113); liquor violations -- 83 (25); and animal complaints -- 366 (457).

Vandalism and property damage offenses took a significant dive, with 536 reported in 2010 compared to 661 in 2009. 

Thefts from vehicles went down from 207 in 2009 to 152, but thefts from buildings and yards went up. 

Shoplifting cases also rose, with officers called to handle 440 incidents, up from 339.

Motor vehicle accidents increased sharply, rising from 1,422 in 2009 to 1,820 last year.

Calls that were not necessarily crime-related kept officers busy last year, figures show. The police department was called out 1,562 times for lockouts, up 66 from the previous year, and 2,174 times because burglar or robbery alarms went off, up 250 from 2009. The vast majority of those are false alarms.

Police also performed 630 welfare checks, 41 more than in 2009, last year. Those  typically involve situations in which police visit someone's home or pull over a motorist to make sure they are not ill or in distress.