The Jefferson Police Department released its statistics for the 2013 calendar year.
Police Chief Dave Morlan says his department responded to 2,958 calls which was a slight decrease from 2012 when there was 2,999 calls for service.
Overall, Morlan states, each major category saw a drop in calls, but the percentages stayed the same. 53% of the calls were for public service, which totaled 1,564 compared to 2012 with 1,589. Most of the incidents were animal-related which constituted 358 calls. There was also 34 fire-related calls made throughout the year.
Criminal calls made up 35% of the report, which saw 1,047 calls made. In 2012, it was at 1,052. Just like in 2012, the most prevalent categories were theft and harassment at 173 and 147 respectively and each were at 164 in 2013. Drug-related calls decreased from 2012 to 2013 from 31-26 respectively and domestic abuse calls went down from 76-55.
Morlan comments that the last category is traffic which made up 12% of the calls in 2013 at 347 compared to 2012’s calls of 358. While the number of accidents went up for the department from 76-88 in 2013, parking violations went down from 70-59. He adds that his officers issued 288 traffic citations and 1,088 warnings last year.
However, one thing that Morlan points out will always be a concern are different types of scams.
“I think people are recognizing some of these scams. When they get that phone call, they realize it’s too good to be true and they’re calling and asking about it. But, the predators are still going to be out there and everybody needs to keep their guard up and watch out for them.”
He says they will still maintain their mission which is to dedicate their efforts to enhancing public safety and maintaining the quality of life for the City of Jefferson.