Campton Hills cops were pretty busy in their first full year

Campton Hills' fledgling police department kept busy last year with more than 4,600 calls for service, according to an annual report released last week.

Surprisingly, the police chief said, 20 percent or more of the calls were from residents requesting extra patrols while they were on vacation - and the village didn't even start keeping track until well into the year.

"I know a lot of agencies that do vacation checks," Police Chief Greg Anderson said. "But I have been amazed by the number of people calling us."

The latest report is the department's first to span a calendar year since the village incorporated in April 2007.

The Kane County sheriff's office continued to cover the previously unincorporated area for six months after incorporation, until the village hired Anderson to build a police department.

Today the chief has six full-time and six part-time officers patrolling the 20-square-mile village around the clock.

The village also recently authorized hiring another officer, which will allow it to have two officers on duty at all times, Anderson said.

"I would anticipate they're (the officers) going to discover more on their own. Response times will be better, there will be better officer safety," he said. "We'll have a backup plan in play."

The village spent $327,000 on police services in fiscal 2008, though the department did not take shape until five months into the budget year. This year, the village is budgeting $877,236, which includes $153,200 for contingencies.

The report said residents reported 167 Part I crimes, which involve violence or personal property, and 228 Part II offenses, which include DUIs, vandalism and drug arrests, in 2008.

The average police response took about 5 minutes for Priority I calls, which include "accidents with injuries, crimes in progress and lifesaving ambulance assists," according to the report.

Police wrote 1,623 traffic citations, an average of more than four a day, and 66 ordinance violation tickets.

There were 231 reported car crashes, with the most accident-prone locations listed as Route 38 and LaFox Road, Burlington Road between Empire and Old LaFox roads, and LaFox Road between routes 64 and 38.

Also in 2008, police stepped up crime prevention with several new programs, including one in which patrol officers alert residents who leave their garage doors open at night. The department tracked 347 such cases.

Police also started a Toys for Tots program and conducted neighborhood meetings.

"I think 2008 was a year of growth for us in a lot of different ways," Anderson said.