Calls for service dropped from 2015 to 2016 for the Escalon Police Department, and overall crime was down as well.

That was the gist of a year-end report from Escalon Police Chief Mike Borges, with the presentation of the crime statistics due on the agenda for the Escalon City Council on Monday night, Feb. 6.

“Our violent crime was higher than you’d like,” the chief added, noting that with a small sampling, even a couple more ‘Part I’ crimes than recent years can significantly raise the rates.

“We also took a patrolman off the streets and created a detective position in February,” the chief said, with Anthony Hardgraves filling that role.

Traffic stops and ‘Officer Initiated Contacts’ were down about 8 percent with the loss of that officer on the streets, but Borges said Hardgraves was able to assist with multiple investigations during the year.

“Overall we saw a decrease in crime of 13 percent,” Borges said. “Arrests were down and traffic citations were down about 26 percent.”

Of the ‘Part I’ crimes, the increase was slight, up about 2 percent.

The crime statistics listed one homicide, seven incidents of rape, three robberies and 24 aggravated assaults for the year.

“Crimes on the violence side were up, the property side held pretty steady,” Borges said. “Our officers are averaging 14 calls per day.”

Helping supplement the department now are the reserve officers, putting in over 3,800 hours of work during the year, equivalent to nearly two full-time employees.

“And our volunteers have donated 557 hours since July,” he said of reviving that volunteer program.

The department has 10 full time sworn officers, including the chief. The list also includes two sergeants, one detective and six officers on patrol, with a full-time non-sworn police services manager.

“We’re also adding a part-time community services officer this month,” he said, to assist with support at both the police department and the animal control office.