Peterborough Lakefield Community Police Service recently released its annual report and crime statistics for 2002.

While the number of calls to police went up, the number of reported crimes went down. According to the report, 252 more calls were made to police in 2002, bringing the total up to 28,228. The number of reported crimes dropped by 169, from 6,831 in 2001 to 6,662 in 2002.

There was one murder in the city in 2002.

Sergeant Rob Hotston says the increased calls to police can be attributed to the public viewing police as a resource.

“We consider ourselves a resource for problem solving,” says Sgt. Hotston.

“If people are calling us more, they have more faith in our problem-solving skills.”

The annual report only reflects the crimes people actually report to police. While some crimes go without reporting, particularly cases of violence between intimate partners, the trend, across Ontario, is shifting towards calling police to report spousal abuse. “More and more people who are involved are reporting it,” says Sgt. Hotston.

Crimes committed against people, like assaults, offer an indicator of the presence of violence in a community, says Sgt. Hotston. There were nine reported aggravated assaults last year compared to five in 2001. The number of other reported assaults was comparable to the previous year.

Break and enters into both homes and businesses decreased between 2001 and 2002. There were 186 break-ins into businesses in 2001 compared to 160 in 2002. There were 325 residential break-ins in 2001 compared to 311 in 2002.

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