JAMESTOWN – The city’s police department attributes a significant drop in property and violent crime to an aggressive initiative that started in 2016 with coordinated efforts targeting the Prendergast Avenue Corridor, according to a public safety report released via the agency’s Facebook page on Monday.
“In 2017, the City of Jamestown saw significant drops in property, violent, and overall Part 1 crimes, which resulted in the lowest overall crime rate in twenty years,” said Police Chief Harry Snellings.
“As an agency, we want to pass on our sincere appreciation to the community of their continued support, and we look forward to providing public safety to the City of Jamestown in the coming year,” Snellings added.
Jamestown Police responded to more than 36,000 calls for service, up more than 3,000 calls from the year before, according to the report.
The report indicates that violent crimes were down more than 10 percent, and property crimes dropped more than 17 percent.
Numbers collected over a three-year period by the department indicate a dramatic jump in people cited for driving without a license, and a sharp rise in the number of people ticketed for not wearing a seatbelt.
The Jamestown Police Department SWAT Team participated in serving 40 warrants in 2017, many of which were in support of the Jamestown Metro Drug Task Force.
