Richmond Hill Police issued more warnings and arrested more people in 2010 compared to 2009, a trend that Chief Billy Reynolds contributed to more officers cruising the streets.

“All those are certainly contributable to the extra patrols that we have and the guys being out there and being seen,” Reynolds told the Richmond Hill City Council during its regular meeting last week. “We try to be very visible.”
In 2010, Richmond Hill Police Department made 992 total arrests compared to 932 in 2009, a 6.4 percent increase, according to year-end data released by the department. Officers also issued 8,782 written warnings last year compared to 7,380 in 2009, a 19 percent increase.

Richmond Hill officers also issued slighter fewer citations and ordinance violations last year compared to 2009. In 2010, there were 4,561 citations issued compared to 4,566 in 2009, a .1 percent decrease. There was also 268 ordinance violations issued last year compared to 294 in 2009, an 8.8 percent drop. Citation and ordinance violations both require offenders to pay fines.

There were fewer instances of burglaries, car thefts and vandalism in 2010 compared to 2009, according to the data, which is also available on the Richmond Hill Police Department’s website, www.rhpd.org.

For more, pick up a copy of the Jan. 26 edition of the News.