McDONALD - Village police and fire crews were kept busy last year.
The police department showed a 12 percent increase in the number of arrests made in 2011 over 2010, according to police Chief Lou Ronghi. The department recorded a total 550 arrests in 2011 compared to 491 arrests in 2010.
Ronghi said he does not believe this year's increase of total arrests is part of a general trend of increased crime in the village.
"Over the last several years, the number of arrests have fluctuated from year to year," he said. "Some years it is higher than others. There is not a steady increase of crimes or arrests."
Ronghi said based on his discussions with other police chiefs in the area, the same kind of patterns are happening in other communities.
The majority of the arrests, 337, were for traffic citations. The remaining 213 were criminal arrests.
The number of calls for service through the Niles Communication Center and the Trumbull County 911 Center increased from 1,975 in 2010 to 2,400 in 2011.
As a result of the creation of a canine unit in May, the department did 35 drug investigations that led to 23 drug charges being filed, the chief said.
There was a rise in juvenile criminal arrests during 2011. Of the 213 total criminal arrests made in the village, 105 involved juveniles. The majority of the juveniles arrested did not live in the village, according to reports.
In August, 24 vehicles were broken into and items stolen. Two juveniles, a 15-year-old Youngstown resident and a 16-year-old Girard resident, were charged with burglary, breaking and entering, felony theft and misdemeanor theft.
In November, a series of sheds and garages were broken into and equipment was stolen. A joint investigation involving the Niles, Weathersfield and McDonald police departments led to the arrest of a 17-year-old Niles resident. The teen was charged with one count of burglary, five counts of breaking and entering and one count of theft.
The department's detective division had 254 cases assigned to it in 2011, which included a significant number of complaints involving theft, burglary and breaking-and-entering reports.
The police department has six full-time officers, including the police chief. It also has seven part-time officers.
The department has a budget of $319,770, which includes total wages and benefits, including uniform allowances and other expenses, according to McDonald Village records.
The volunteer fire department had 342 calls in 2011, which is an increase over the 304 calls the department answered in 2010. In 2009, the fire department responded to 236 calls.
The department had 53 fire calls and 289 EMS calls in 2011.
"The department responded to every call for the last two years, totaling 646 calls," fire Chief Nick Kish wrote in annual report. "We have transported every patient requiring transport without turning a single call to a private ambulance company."
The fire department has about 30 people on its roster, with nearly half of its members being volunteer firefighters and the majority of the remainder emergency medical technicians that are only allowed to work part-time hours.
The fire department has $51,972.83 in wages, benefits and other expenses. Other costs that are counted with the fire department involves the emergency medical technician service, which adds another $45,997.92. However, the EMT service is paid for through ambulance billing, which in 2011 was nearly $59,000.
Kish said the department was able to obtain grants for a total of $14,500, which was used to purchase a thermal imaging camera and a Lifepak 12 cardiac monitor for an ambulance. The department also purchased a hydraulic combination tool, which is used to cut people out of vehicles.
