National statistics are showing a concerning rise in violent crimes across the country, but Carroll is bucking that trend with declining rates in nearly all categories for 2021. Data from the Carroll Police Department show incidences of assault, burglary, theft and other crimes have been dropping steadily for the last five years, and Police Chief, Brad Burke, credits his officers and the people who live and work in town for the remarkably low figures.
Compared to 2017, theft reports are down by about 60 percent from 314 to 122 and assaults dropped by 40 percent with similar decreases in other classes. Burke says that pattern appears to be continuing into 2022, which is allowing officers to catch up in other areas.
While not crimes, mental health calls are a category that they track that has remained relatively stable in recent years. The Carroll Police Department generally responds to approximately 20 of these calls annually, and they have a tendency to take up a large part of an officer’s shift.
He adds even the run-of-the-mill traffic citations are down noticeably from their peak in 2017. According to Burke, the Grant Road and Highway 30 intersection used to be the hot spot for car accidents, but the frequency has dropped since the roadway was expanded several years ago. Distracted driving continues to be A key contributor to many crashes, but Burke says that may be changing later this year.
Data from the Carroll Police Department is available through the City of Carroll’s website, and a link to those figures can be found included with this story on our website.
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https://www.cityofcarroll.com/about-the-department
