Thefts, auto thefts, and robberies were up in the Town of Chesterton last year, traffic enforcement was way up, and motor vehicle accidents way down.

Those are the trends revealed by the Chesterton Police Department’s 2010 annual report.

Begin with the rawest of numbers: overall calls for service. In 2010 the CPD responded to 11,575 calls, compared to 11,289 in 2009, a marginal increase of 2.5 percent.

In almost all categories of enforcement, however, activity spiked last year, sometimes dramatically:

•Citations: 1,035, compared to 892 in 2009, an increase of 16 percent.

•Warnings: 1,969, compared to 1,766 in 2009, an increase of 11.5 percent.

•Traffic stops: 2,906, compared to 1,862 in 2009, a whopping increase of 56 percent.

•Misdemeanor charges: 320, compared to 288 in 2009, an increase of 11 percent.

•Felony charges: 90, compared to 131 in 2009, a decrease of 31 percent.

•Warrants served: 32, compared to 39 in 2009, a decrease of 18 percent.

Meanwhile—coinciding with the ramped up traffic enforcement—accidents plummeted in the town last year. The CPD responded to a total of 393 crashes in 2010, compared to 449 in 2009, a decrease of 12.5 percent.

Personal-injury accidents, on the other hand, rose fractionally, to 39 in 2010 from 37 in 2009. There was one fatal accident last year, in November at the intersection of Ind. 49 and Gateway Blvd., compared to none in 2009.

Arrests for operating while intoxicated were up slightly, to 66 from 64 in 2009, an increase of 3 percent.

Reports of crimes against property were mixed in 2010, some categories showing sharp increases, others the opposite:

•Burglaries: 41, the same as in 2009.

•Forgeries: two, compared to three in 2009, a decrease of 33 percent.

•Frauds: 89, compared to 115 in 2009, a decrease of 23 percent.

•Cases of shoplifting: six, compared to 18 in 2009, a decrease of 67 percent.

•Thefts: 296, compared to 153 in 2009, an increase of 93 percent. A large part of that spike is attributable to a rash of forced vehicle entries on the far west side of town in the spring of 2010.

•Auto thefts: 15, compared to eight in 2009, an increase of 88 percent.

Reports of crimes against persons were similarly mixed in 2010.

•Robberies: four, compared to two in 2009, an increase of 100 percent.

•Reports of battery: 26, compared to 28 in 2009, a decrease of 7 percent.

•Domestic calls: 79, compared to 116 in 2009, a decrease of 32 percent.

No particular trend—other than a general stability year over year—was obvious in quality-of-life complaints in 2010:

•Animal complaints: 194, compared to 187 in 2009, an increase of 4 percent.

•Noise complaints: 95, compared to 99 in 2009, a decrease of 4 percent.

•Fireworks complaints: 35, compared to 41 in 2009, a decrease of 15 percent.

•Train complaints: 19, compared to 35 in 2009, a decrease of 46 percent.

•Cases of vandalism: 207, compared to 203 in 2009, an increase of 2 percent.

•Peddler complaints: 19, compared 27 in 2009, an increase of 30 percent.

•Miscellaneous juvenile complaints: 290, compared to 310 in 2009, a decrease of 6 percent.

•Parking violations: 84, compared to 113 in 2009, a decrease of 26 percent.

•Disturbances: 280, compared to 278 in 2009, an increase of 1 percent.

Citizens were uniformly more vigilant in 2010:

•Suspicious circumstances reported: 657, compared to 536 in 2009, an increase of 23 percent.

•Suspicious persons: 244, compared to 214 in 2009, an increase of 14 percent.

•Suspicious vehicles: 291, compared to 286 in 2009, an increase of 2 percent.

Posted 4/7/2011