The Brockport Police Department’s year end report for 2000 was presented to village trustees last week. The report compares calls and complaints received in 2000 to those received in 1999.

After dropping noticeably in 1999, calls to the Brockport Police Department jumped back up by nearly 500 to 19,818 in 2000. Criminal arrests rose from 577 in 1999 to 702 in 2000; traffic arrests rose from 1,977 to 2,109 during the same time period.

On the other hand, parking tickets dropped from 3,003 to 2,562; and accidents also dropped from 250 in 1999 to 202 in 2000. Police Chief Gary Zimmer partially credits the pedestrian signs placed in the middle of Main Street at several locations for slowing down traffic on Main Street and curtailing accidents. However, accidents on State Street nearly tripled in 2000, despite a heavy radar presence there. Zimmer said he will have to review all the accident reports and try to determine what factors are contributing to the high rate of accidents.

One of Brockport’s other prime traffic problems – tractor trailer trucks striking the railroad overpass on Main Street, saw a decline; only 11 trucks hit the bridge in 2000 compared to the 14 that hit it in 1999. For the first time in 2000, Zimmer kept track of how many times trucks managed to stop before hitting the bridge, but then required police assistance to get their trucks backed up and turned around to leave Main Street. There were 51 of those incidents.

Domestic Violence calls trouble Zimmer the most. The department received 160 calls for domestic problems in 2000, that’s about three a week and 35 more than were received in 1999. Zimmer said often drugs and alcohol are involved and he worries about the potential for his officers being injured during the response. Asked if those 160 calls represented multiple calls to the same home, Zimmer said not usually. Orders of protection are normally sought after the first call or two, which helps curtail repeat incidents. The 160 calls represent responses to many different homes. Zimmer said he and other police chiefs are working on grant applications that would fund domestic violence counselors. "It’s important to help families get past the problems and find a way to live peacefully – together or apart."

At first glance, the 2000 report would seem to suggest that Brockport has a major burglary problem. Burglaries jumped from 2 in 1999 to 49 in 2000. However, the vast majority of the increase resulted from the Thanksgiving weekend burglary spree. Zimmer’s officers arrested three SUNY Brockport students and one MCC student for a rash of burglaries that occurred mostly in student housing units over the holiday weekend. Zimmer said in a typical year, Brockport sees about a half dozen burglaries.

Another striking difference in the annual report is the number of bench warrant arrests made. There were 58 of those arrests made in 1999, 122 were made in 2000. That increase is thanks to a new computer system that searches for arrest warrants whenever police make a stop for traffic violations. The new county-wide system has benefited all area police departments, Zimmer said. Brockport’s own outstanding warrants dropped by half, thanks to the new system. Zimmer said the computer search will soon include information about probation and parole violations.

Zimmer said he is most pleased with the work his department is doing on quality of life issues. That includes (but isn’t limited to) the following items.