Carroll County deputies logged more than three times as many service calls during the past year as during the previous two years combined, Sheriff Kenneth L. Tregoning said yesterday.
Tregoning, who celebrated his first anniversary Tuesday as Carroll's sheriff, provided that statistical breakdown at a quarterly meeting with the county commissioners.
During the first 11 months of 1999, road-patrol deputies made 14,625 responses for service, Tregoning noted. In comparison, deputies handled 2,844 calls during the 12 months of 1997 and 1,816 in 1998, when John Brown was sheriff.
The data is being counted the same way as before, said Col. Robert Keefer, chief deputy. "Those increased numbers include a lot of proactive initiatives. Deputies routinely stop and make bank or business security checks while on patrol, and they have made a lot more traffic stops this year."
According to the data, deputies issued 366 traffic citations or warnings in 1997 and 255 in 1998. Eleven-month totals for 1999 show 1,787 citations and 1,661 warnings.
Twenty-four arrests were made for driving while intoxicated this year, compared with two arrests in the past two years.
Tregoning also noted that 14 deputies are assigned to patrol five areas of the county in staggered shifts, so coverage can be extended from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. He said never less than five deputies are on patrol at any given time during that shift because of officer safety concerns.
"We have been getting rave reviews about the total law enforcement being done in Carroll County," Commissioner Donald I. Dell told Tregoning, before asking how many more deputies would be needed to provide 24-hour coverage seven days a week.
"We'd have to have seven to nine more deputies to get the job done 24, seven," Tregoning said.
Before the sheriff met with the commissioners, state police Lt. Terry Katz offered his quarterly review, noting improved arrest rates appear to have driven down the number of burglaries and break-ins the past two months.
Katz said his troopers will begin a yearlong crackdown on underage drinking next month, endeavoring to interrupt the development of lifestyle patterns before they begin.
