Marijuana Law Leads to Lower Arrests

General crime in Andover may have not shifted one way or the other over the past few years but police officials say that certain jumps or drops in specific incidents can be attributed to a variety of factors.

Police Lt. John Pathiakis said that a large decrease in arrests from 2008 to 2010 can be linked to one legislative act in particular.

“A lot of that had to do with the decriminalization of marijuana,” said Police Lt. John Pathiakis.

Arrests dropped from 715 in 2008 to 496 in 2010, a nearly 31 percent decrease following the passage of the law by state voters in November of 2008.

Pathiakis said the new marijuana law turned an arrestable offense into a misdemeanor punishable by a mere traffic citation, therefore decreasing total arrests.

Summons Up To Something

An increase in summonses, which require defendents to go to court but do not result in an arrest, in 2009 can be attributed to both better record keeping and aggressive patrol.

Pathiakis said that better record keeping in regards to the registration and inspection of motor vehicles resulted due to more collaboration between the Registry of Motor Vehicles and insurance companies in 2008. This provided police with more information during routine license plate checks and, therefore, more summonses.

“It also has to do with aggressive patrol,” said Pathiakis.

He said that a large increase in young, eager patrol officers over the past ten years may have also lead to increases in summonses for inspection and registration related offenses.

When eight patrolmen moved into lieutenant or sergeant positions in 1998, it created a void in patrolman. Pathiakis said that, on a whole, the department has gained roughly 20 young officers in the past ten years.

"It comes in cycles," said Pathiakis.

However, summonses did end up dropping in 2010.

Parking Citations Drop

Parking Citations dropped in the past three years due to major construction projects on Main Street in downtown Andover, Pathiakis said.

“There was no place to park which means there was less places to write tickets.,” said Pathiakis.

He said that major sections of downtown municipal parking lots and street side parking were occupied by the construction itself or construction vehicles. With fewer parking spots, police had less cars to ticket. Parking citations dropped from 9,624 in 2008 to 7,849 in 2010.

As many residents already know and cherish, Pathiakis said that Andover generally has very little crime.

"It is a very safe town," said Pathiakis.

Here are some crime statistics over the past three years:

Larcenies