Police Chief: Car, Home Break-ins Down, Credit Card Fraud Increases

Dedham has seen a rise in credit card fraud and shoplifting, but a drop in thieves stealing from cars and homes, Chief Michael d'Entremont told the Board of Selectmen Thursday evening.

"As far as real serious crime, you don't have any major increases in anything," d'Entremont said.

Through Sept. 30, police have fielded 32 credit card fruad complaints, compared to 23 the year before - a 39 percent increase - with two cases leading to arrests.

Calls for shoplifters rose from 145 in 2010 to 173 in 2011, a 19.3-percent increase. Police filed 33 shoplifiting charges related to those incidents.

After a summer of 2010 that saw plenty of car break-ins, d'Entremont's report showed those incidents dropped by nearly 52 percent, from 104 in 2010 to 50 so far this year.

Thieves in Dedham are becoming increasingly unsuccessful when trying to break into a building, the report showed. Police have filed 21 attempted break-ins this year and 12 building break-ins. That equates to a 75-percent increase in attempts and a 33 percent drop in break-ins.

"Assaults are down, all of the restraining order categories are all down," d'Entremont said.

Traffic citations were down 13 percent in the town through Aug. 31, and d'Entremont said vicious winter weather in January and February could be a major reason for the decrease. Consecutive snowstorms led to fewer cars on the road in those months.

Overall, police are busier than just two years ago. So far, they've fielded 11,597 incident reports, roughly 17.5 percent higher than in 2009, d'Entremont said.

"Incident volume-wise, it is very busy," the chief said. "Officers are doing a good job keeping up with things and providing the necessary service."

Other notable changes: