‘It’s a good report?: Major crimes down overall in township

Brandon Twp.- Deputies responded to 5,787 calls for service in the township in 2011, only a slight increase from the year before.
Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Pete Burkett, Brandon substation commander, recently released the 2011 year-end sheriff’s report.
‘It’s a good report,? said Burkett. ‘We’re staying pretty steady, we had a slight increase in calls, but nothing tremendous.?
Major crimes, including assaults, home invasions, and auto thefts were down overall. Home invasions decreased from 75 in 2010 to 55 in 2011. Auto thefts were down from 11 the year before to 7 in 2011.
Criminal sexual conduct cases increased to nine in 2011 from seven the year before, while drug offenses almost doubled, from six in 2010 to 11 in 2011.
The report shows that malicious destruction of property complaints fell dramatically from 66 in 2010 to 29 last year. Traffic crashes decreased from 370 in 2010 to 346 in 2011.
However, other than the total number of service calls, the numbers in each area can be difficult to track and may be higher than the Clemis report shows. The report classifies offenses based on calls received by police dispatchers, however, some calls fall into ‘open generic? categories, which doesn’t specify what crime occurred.
‘We have changed the report writing system twice in the last two years,? said Burkett. ‘It makes it difficult to compare numbers? Our deputies are out there doing their jobs and being a deterrent to crime. Our major crimes are down, calls for service are up and we look forward to serving the community in 2012.?