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By Ken Askew
Just about everyone has been given a traffic ticket at least once in their driving life, but how else do the local police spend their time on duty? The Pleasant Hills Borough Police Department’s 2011 Annual Report provides a multitude of answers to that question.
Edward M. Cunningham is the current chief of police for a department started in 1947. His staff is comprised of a uniform patrol of two lieutenants, three sergeants, and ten officers; two criminal investigators; five desk officers; and 15 school crossing guards. Altogether, they received 840 hours of training and education in 2011.
Some of their other yearly activities include crime prevention seminars, a Drug Abuse Resistance and Education (D.A.R.E.) program, National Night Out, Visit with Santa, emergency management services, Halloween Parade, school guard training classes, critical incident training, meeting the standards of the Pennsylvania Municipal Police Officers Education and Training Commission, and operating a K-9 Division.
Criminal arrests for the year were made of 11 juveniles and 296 adults. In the traffic enforcement arena, there were 3,256 actions (250 assists rendered, 873 complaints investigated, and 2,133 citations issued). 412 traffic accidents were investigated. The police were sent out on 211 community-oriented policing details.
The five most frequent calls reported were: suspicious persons / vehicle / incidents (190); theft (122); driving under the influence (99); disorderly conduct / disturbance (96); and community policing / service (94). To the contrary, the five least frequent calls were: theft-motor vehicle (12); domestic violence (9); loitering (5); robbery (1); and murder (0).
The “Incidents” category tallied the following most reported statistics: ambulance calls (1,352); traffic stops (611); alarms-false (381); accidents – non-reportable (312); and traffic complaints (227).
At the bottom of the list, with the least reported incidents were: juvenile complaints (34); runaway juveniles (20); warrant service (16); abandoned vehicles (11); and missing persons (4).
Overall, the police logged 7,978 actions for 2011, down 2% from the 2010 total of 8,143.
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