By Judy Reed

Cedar Springs Police Chief Roger Parent. Post photo by J. Reed

Cedar Springs Police Chief Roger Parent presented his end of the year report on crime statistics to the City Council last Thursday night. Calls have dropped the last two years, after a high of 3,988 in 2007. Calls dropped from 3,509 in 2008, to 3,221 in 2009.

Some categories saw declines, while others increased. There was a decrease in the number of accidents from 127 to 89, however, there were two fatal accidents: a motorcycle on South Main during construction, and another at the light at White Creek and 17 Mile.

“Two fatal accidents for a small town is unusual,” said Parent. But he also said there was no real reason that he knew of for the drop in the number of accidents.

Also down was larceny of gas, most likely because gas prices dropped to lower levels. Home invasions were also down.

Some of the incidents that were up included assaults (41, up from 27), disorderlies (168, up from 143), domestics (145, up from 127), non-music noise complaints (37, up from 17) and suspicious activity (467, up from 319).

Criminal sexual conduct calls also are up some, from 13 to 20. “That’s really a substantial increase,” said Parent. “And we’ve had a good conviction rate if it’s a true CSC,” he commented. “Maybe people are starting to report them more.”

The Cedar Springs Police force currently consists of five officers, one sergeant, and the police chief.