Streetsboro -- Serious crime in the city went down in 2012, while the number of crimes overall increased, according to Streetsboro's 2012 Annual Police Report.
Serious crimes include homicide, rape, burglary and arson, according to Police Chief Mosley III. There were 75 fewer of those types of crimes than in 2011, bringing the total from 423 in 2011 to 348 in 2012.
There were no murders, rapes or arsons in 2012, according to the report.
The most common offense in 2012 was larceny, which accounted for 317 of the 348 serious crimes reported in 2012.
According to Mosley, thefts and burglaries are usually driven by narcotics.
"We cut off a narcotics ring in 2012 so this could be part of the reasons why offenses went down last year," he said.
Other crime increased from 715 in 2011 to 937 in 2012.
Of the 222 incident increase in less serious crime, 177 of the incidents came from a category identified as "all other offenses" in the report, according to the report.
"These are crimes that could involve criminal charges being against an individual," said Mosley. "These would be for things such as telecommunications harassment, menacing, criminal damaging, identity theft, passing bad checks, trespassing, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and more."
Increases in domestic violence, vandalism, forgery and fraud also were reported in 2012.
According to the report, driving under the influence incidents were down from 120 in 2011 to 104 in 2012.
Calls for service decreased significantly in 2012, as did the extra patrol security checks. The number of calls in 2011 was 16,509 and went down to 15,146 in 2012, a decrease of 1,363.
"The primary reason for that is we adjusted operationally for how those officer activities are documented within our computer aided dispatch system," said Mosley. "For example, previously, when an officer would go through our hotel areas to conduct checks, separate calls for service were being pulled within the records system for each individual hotel. That process was modified to reflect a single call for service in the system, with the officer noting in the comments area of the call which hotels were checked.
"The process was modified similarly for checks of our automobile dealerships within the city by officers," he added.
An extra patrol activity an officer completes may fall under other call classifications such as "House Check" or "Preventive Patrol" in the system, according to Mosley. They are no longer classified as calls for service, which is another reason why the report shows a decrease in calls.
In 2011, there were 120 parking citations. There was a slight decrease in 2012 with only 104 parking citations.
Email: astewart@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-541-9400 ext. 4163
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