February 10th, 2010

I think it is safe to say that in the last year, all of our residents and businesses have faced many of the hard economic times that people across the country have had to endure.  We felt as an agency that it would become even more important to ease your worries about becoming a victim of a crime.  During a recession there is typically an increase in crime and during the last quarter of 2009 and first quarter of this year, there was.  For that reason, we worked even harder to protect you from crimes like burglary, robbery, thefts and scams associated with these times.

As an agency we tried to maximize our efforts to protect the community, and though sometimes being down on staff, we used an “All hands on deck” approach to do that.  We asked Patrol and Detectives to be creative, working together diligently to solve crimes.  If you were a victim of a crime, we worked quickly to get your property back and prosecute the suspects - Every case got priority and all cases had to be solved.

We also continued our efforts to reduce drug activity and most importantly, keep it away from the schools.  I think we have made great strides to do that and continue to send the message that we value the youth in our community.  We felt the best way to do that is by reducing the availability of illegal drugs on the street.  Drug activity can and has lead to other types of crimes due to the desperation of people involved with it.

There were also several DWI checkpoints last year.  Statistics have shown that these types of proactive activities reduce fatal accidents caused by drunk drivers, and we want to do everything we can do to protect public traveling on our roads.  We are planning more of these efforts for 2010.

Lastly we continued the philosophy that “customer service” must always come first.  Regardless of how large or small your problem was, we want to be there for you and give you nothing but the best service.  We have continued to get involved with community groups and visit with people around the town so that we can hear your concerns and work to resolve them.  Hopefully you have noticed a difference and see that we are working hard for you.  Ultimately we want to make you proud of us and feel safe in your community knowing we are there for you.

As we move into a new year, please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you need anything or have suggestions.  Also, do not hesitate to stop in and visit us.  It always makes our day when citizens simply stop in to just say "hi".

Thank you again for all your support,