DEPUTY IN THE SLAMMER: Orangeville Deputy Mayor Warren Maycock graciously agreed to do time, under the watchful eye of Police Chief Joe Tomei, on Saturday during an open house at Orangeville Police Service headquarters; an event that was staged as part of Police Week. As for his jail term, Mr. Maycock was paroled for good behaviour after serving 30 seconds of his two-minute sentence. Photo/DAN PELTON There was additional reason to celebrate Police Week in Orangeville. The recently released 2009 Orangeville Police Service report says there was a reduction in criminal activity in the town, last year.

The annual report, released by Police Chief Joe Tomei, described a 22 per cent decrease in violent crime, while incidents of property crime were down 40 per cent from the previous year.

Although there was a 27 per cent jump in drug-related charges, Chief Tomei suggested in an interview that this could be a result of increased police vigilance rather than noticeable increase in drug use and trafficking.

But to judge crime fluctuations by merely surveying percentage increases and decreases could be deceiving.

For example, while Orangeville’s murder and attempted murder rates both exploded in percentage terms last year, in reality, there was one murder and one attempted murder in 2009, but none of either in 2008.

There were 13 robbery reports in 2009, as opposed to seven in 2008, denoting a 46 per cent rise. On the other hand, incidents of confinement dropped infinitely, from four to none.

Regardless, Chief Tomei – a 39-year veteran of policing – is encouraged by the results and sees events, such as the open house over the weekend at police headquarters, as a positive thing.

“Police Week is about building bridges with the community,” he said. “It gets the message across as to how the community can help us with crime prevention issues.

“What’s really gratifying is there are a lot more kids coming out. Just to see the interac-

tion [between the officers and the kids] makes me feel they are getting the message: ‘If you are ever in trouble, the person you can go to is the police officer.’”

Chief Tomei can point to the impressive clearance rate – where reports to police result in arrests – of the various offences. Outside communications play a pivotal role in an eventual arrest.

In the case of violent crime, the clearance rate was 86.9 per cent. A case that really stood out in 2009 was a knife attack on a woman at the Creek Side Clothing Co. on First Street. Orangeville police were instrumental in the arrest of Robert Francis Richards less than 48 hours later.

Even in the case of drug offences, where reports were on the upswing in 2009, the clearance rate was 98 per cent.

Still, Chief Tomei would like to see town residents be more vigilant when it comes to preventing property crime. For example, he says too many people are still leaving their cars unlocked.

Ironically, over his long career, he indicated that his most memorable moments have come when dealing with such crimes.

“The biggest gratification has been in returning stolen property,” he said. “When you can return something like a ring or a family heirloom, there’s no feeling like it.”