The Anoka Police Department is busier than usual this year Chief Eric Peterson shared in a mid-year update during the Anoka City Council meeting on July 18.
Peterson said that calls are up 10% from last year with 11,579 calls for service in the first six months of 2022.
Peterson broke the statistics down into three categories: Group A, B and C. offenses. Group A offenses describe the most serious crimes, and include homicides, robberies and auto thefts. While Group A calls are down 7% overall, auto theft was up 200%, with 29 reported auto thefts this year.
Group B crimes are considered less severe, Peterson said, and include offenses such as disorderly conduct, driving while intoxicated and trespassing. Group B offenses were up 66%. Lastly, there were 709 miscellaneous calls for the first half of the year, compared to 306 at this time last year. These are calls that required police intervention but did not result in any criminal charges.
While Peterson did not give a reason for the rise in statistics, he did share that a new officer is expected to be sworn in on Aug. 1. Council Member Elizabeth Barnett commended the chief for seeing the need for a new officer, stating that it will help the department manage the rise in calls.
While the identity of the new officer was not given at the July 18 meeting, Chief Peterson stated that they have previously worked in Anoka as a security officer, and expects to make an introduction to the City Council soon.
Interested citizens can keep an eye on the Aug. 1 City Council meeting and agenda for upcoming information.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
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