Politics & Government

Police Field 9,000 Calls So Far This Year

Authorities report rise in thefts and traffic accidents, drop in burglaries and drunken driving stops.

Chief of Police John Sliozis presented Deerfield’s semi-annual report to village officials at last Monday's board meeting to fill trustees in on what has happened so far in 2011. 

According to figures, police received 9,338 calls in the first six months of the year; 6,000 of those required police response.

“It’s a slight increase over the previous year,” Sliozis said. “But still lower than the average for the four years proceeding that.”

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Related: Police Investigate Crash that Sent Teen Bicyclist to Hospital.

Sliozis also told trustees that Deerfield’s indexed crime spiked six points from this same period a year ago. It was 91 in 2010, but has reached 97 in 2011. Sliozis explained that the index indicates the amount and extent of serious crimes in a community involving such incidents as murder, robbery, burglary and theft.

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The police chief attributed the jump to seven more thefts that occurred during the first half of 2011 compared to the same time period in 2010.

However, Deerfield saw a drop in burglaries from eight in the first six months of 2010 to four during those months a year later--a decline that Sliozis called “unbelievable.” 

“Obviously the guys in the street are doing a lot of things right to keep that number down,” he added.

Deerfield also saw a slight decrease in the number of criminal damage to property and vandalism reports as well as drunken driving incidents.

When it came to traffic accidents so far in 2011, Sliozis noted that the number of private parking and parking lot accidents fell while the number of road-related accidents jumped. 

“Maybe [that was] no surprise with some of the construction projects,“ he said. “It appears that the may be somewhat accountable for that increase.”

Sliozis told trustees that taking another look at those traffic numbers at the end of the year might help local authorities better determine if area construction had an effect on the accident figures in 2011.  

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