While there has been no shortage of police activity and crimes in the headlines over the past several months, local law enforcement officials say their overall activity has declined.
Hampton Police Chief Jamie Sullivan and Deputy Police Chief Rich Sawyer said that overall department activity was "down" in 2013, even despite a busy Hampton Beach season that featured many fatal crashes and deaths.
Sullivan said calls for service, arrests, driving while intoxicated incidents, overall offenses, and motor vehicle stops were all down last year compared to 2012.
The areas that saw increases included the total number of felonies, which was up 8 percent, and the total number of incidents, which was "up slightly," said Sullivan.
One factor that played a role in reducing the amount of police activity is the fact that the Hampton Police Department had a smaller part-time staff in 2013, which Sullivan said "clearly" contributes to a decrease in "officer-generated numbers" within statistics like incidents and motor vehicle stops.
The weather is always the thing that can make or break the summer season from a business standpoint, and Sawyer said it shouldn't be discredited for its ability to have a similar affect on police statistics.
Sawyer said 2013 had more cold and rainy days, which "keeps the crowd" — and thus the number of incidents and law violations — down. On the flip side, Sawyer said "the summer of 2012 was one of the best summers at Hampton Beach in years," which is part of the reason why 2012 was an above-average year for police activity.
Just because overall activity is down right now doesn't mean, though, that the department isn't continually focusing on improving its response, its ability to protect the area or its efforts to curb illegal activity, according to Sullivan and Sawyer.
Sawyer said one area that best illustrates this is the department's drug enforcement efforts, as the number of drug offenses stayed roughly the same in 2013 as in 2012.
In particular, Sawyer said the "heroin issues in this region" — not just Hampton — "are significant."
Sullivan also said heroin is a "common" issue "across all beach areas" and communities within the greater Seacoast area, which is why he said it will receive significant attention in 2014.
"It is still a large concern and something we still need to focus on," said Sullivan.
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