MERRILLVILLE | The Merrillville Police Department consistently has seen an increase of calls for service in the past few years, but the number of officers responding to the calls has remained about the same, Police Chief Joseph Petruch said.
The Police Department responded to nearly 53,000 calls for service in 2007, which was up about 15 percent from 2006, according to Merrillville police statistics.
The department has responded to more than 36,000 calls for service through September this year. Petruch anticipates police also will have a high number of calls for service through the end of the year.
He said additional officers will be needed on Halloween and projects the town will be inundated with calls regarding automobile accidents once winter weather hits the area.
Merrillville police Support Services Cmdr. Dave Barron said he believes Merrillville is one of the busiest departments in Lake County, but the department hasn't had an increase of officers available to respond to calls.
Merrillville is budgeted to have 54 officers, but currently has 51 on staff. Petruch said of those 51 officers, one is on administrative leave and two are on sick leave.
Petruch also said 34 of the 51 officers work in the patrol division. The town also only has two dispatchers available to receive calls.
Petruch said officers have less time to patrol streets when the department becomes busy. He said many officers are forced to spend their time traveling from one call to the next during the busy times.
Petruch understands funds aren't available to increase the number of officers on the force, but noted the town has done a good job of helping the department.
Last month, the Town Council adopted an ordinance giving a $2,000-per-year raise to police officers. Petruch said the raise will help retain officers.
The Police Department also received a grant from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute to equip 20 squad cars with an electronic citation system.
The equipment will make ticket writing faster for officers because it can scan a violator's license and automatically fill out portions of a ticket.
Petruch said some squads already have received the equipment and officers are currently using it while patrolling streets. Other squads should soon receive the equipment, Petruch said.
