The Evesham Township Police Department recently released its 2018 annual report, which police officials say offers members of the public a “detailed summary of the activities and services” the ETPD provided to the community throughout last year.
As described by ETPD Chief of Police Christopher Chew, the report features information relating to the department’s administration, its day-to-day operations, its budget, new programs, future goals and objectives, trends in crime, trends in traffic accidents and more.
“It’s 47 pages, and it talks about everything that we do as an organization,” Chew said.
According to Chew, the report also highlights how the department continues to advance in its mission to reduce crime and enhance the safety of Evesham Township.
According to the report, 2018 saw the ETPD consist of 80 sworn officers, four Special Law Enforcement Officers Level II employees, nine SLEO Level III employees and 11 civilian employees.
In turn, the department was tasked with serving an estimated 55,000 residents of Evesham Township, with the department specifically responding to 31,667 calls for service.
As described by the report, a call for service is a response to an action that generates a police response, meaning either a dispatched call for service or an event self-initiated by an officer.
In those calls for service, the department made 1,370 custodial arrests, including making 149 DWI arrests, and dealt with 1,810 motor vehicle collisions, including 228 collisions with injuries.
In addition, the department’s patrol bureau conducted 28,575 business checks and drove more than a combined total of 310,000 miles while on patrol.
Compared to 2017, in 2018 the department saw an 8 percent decrease in indictable and disorderly persons offenses, dropping from 6,394 to 5872, as well as a 57 percent reduction in the worth of property stolen, dropping from $1,019,818 to $431,472.
The department also saw a 12 percent decrease in DWI arrests, dropping from 170 in 2017 to 149 in 2018, and once again, the township did not have a single traffic fatality, which has been the case since 2010.
“These significant decreases demonstrate our agency’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that Evesham Township remains an outstanding community to live, work and engage in recreation,” Chew said.
To to maintain these reductions in crimes, Chew asks members of the community to continue to report suspicious activity, traffic violations, complaints in their neighborhoods, criminal violations and any other concerns.
“Our agency is only as strong as the community we serve, and we must continue to work collaboratively to make Evesham Township that safest and most desirable community in the area,” Chew said.
In addition to reductions in crime, Chew said the department’s 2018 report also highlights new programs for the department, such as the “Straight…to Treatment” program, which saw a collaborative effort between the department and the Burlington County Prosecutors Office to provide drug addicts the opportunity to meet with health-care representatives at ETPD headquarters for free intervention to receive treatment.
Chew said that program has helped more than 80 individuals in the nine-month period it operated in 2018.
Chew said 2018 also saw the department place a Class III police officer in every in school within Evesham through a continued shared services agreement with the Evesham Township School District, in addition to the department creating its first addiction prevention training for seniors at Cherokee High School.
Looking to technology, Chew said the department worked in 2018 to synchronize all electronic devices – mobile video recorders, body-worn cameras, controlled electronic devices (Tasers) and in-house interview room recorders – under the same electronic platform, meaning the township would become more efficient and save in digital evidence collection and storage.
Chew also pointed to department’s continued commitment to community outreach, with another year of events such as Coffee with a Cop, Cool off with a Cop, Burger with Police, Karoke with a Cop, Pizza with the Police, Junior Police Academy, the department’s inaugural Vaping Seminar, the ETPD Citizen’s Police Academy and the department’s Police Explorer Programs.
Chew also said he was proud of members in the department who joined fundraising efforts such as wearing pink badges for breast cancer research or participating in the “No Shave November” efforts for cancer research and awareness.
Overall, Chew encouraged all residents to read the report in its entirety and learn even more beyond the selected areas he chose to highlight.
“As chief of police, I take great pride in the dedication and hard work by each of my co-workers who make up the Evesham Police Department,” Chew said. “It is our intention to continue with our unwavering commitment in making Evesham Township the safest place to visit, shop and call home.”
To read the department’s full report, visit the department’s website at www.eveshampd.org.
