Brandon Twp.- Calls for police service are up and major crimes are down in the township for the first eight months of this year.
Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Pete Burkett, township substation commander, is pleased with the results of the quarterly report he gave to township and village officials recently.
‘It’s always good to see calls for service up, but crimes down,? said Burkett. ‘We want to know that people in the community are using our services.?
According to the report, which covers January through August, substation deputies responded to 3,653 calls for service, compared to 3,646 for the same time period last year. Major crimes are down in all areas, with the exception of auto thefts? seven so far in 2009, whereas last year, there were zero at this time.
‘I was surprised about the auto thefts going up,? Burkett said.’We had motorcycles stolen and in a couple instances, they (the criminals) were caught at the time of the theft. Always keep your vehicle locked and keep it in the garage if you have one. Keep your keys and valuables out of your vehicle.?
In other areas, criminal sexual conducts decreased from nine to six; assault offenses were down to 62 from 68 in 2008; burglaries decreased from 43 to 31; larcenies were down with 87 this year compared to 92 last year; drug offenses were cut in half from 22 to 11; and fraud calls decreased from 30 to 22.
Police saw increases in the following categories: 74 disorderly persons in 2009 compared to 60 in 2008; 239 calls for suspicious circumstances up from 192 last year; and 85 family trouble calls, up from 73 in 2008.
Burkett was pleased with a large decrease in traffic crashes? 193 so far this year, compared to 280 for the same time last year.
‘Our crashes are way down? people are driving better, we have more patrol officers out and our tickets are up,? he said.