Year-end statistics are in for the Jim Thorpe Police Department and while traffic and non-traffic citations were both on the rise in 2022, criminal and drug charges decreased.

Traffic citations jumped from 304 in 2021 to 444 in 2022, while non-traffic citations rose from 62 to 85.

“I think a big reason for that is we just keep seeing more and more traffic in Jim Thorpe as a whole,” Mayor Mike Sofranko said. “I call it an issue, but it’s not altogether a bad issue because it means people are coming here. I often say I feel blessed to be the mayor of Jim Thorpe because traffic is our biggest concern and we don’t have a large amount of some of the more serious issues other areas have.”

Speeding, Sofranko said, is a major concern on Center Avenue, North Street and Broadway. Officers, he added, will continue to place an emphasis on enforcement.

“We do something different things to get out there and try to crack down on speeding,” Sofranko said. “We get $12.25 from each ticket so it’s certainly not a money making venture, especially when it costs around $120-$150 if you have to carve out time for an officer to take a hearing. It’s not financially lucrative, but it is the morally safe thing to do to get out there and try to curb speeding.”

Criminal charges are down from 91 to 72 and drug arrests fell from 33 to 22 over the course of the past year.

“Our officers have worked really hard on getting a handle on drugs in Jim Thorpe,” Sofranko said. “It’s not to say they aren’t out there, because they are, but we’ve consistently attacked it and I think you’re seeing that in these numbers because they are trending down.”

Total police calls through the Carbon County Communications Center are up from 2,848 to 3,202.

Jim Thorpe unveiled residential permit parking along West Broadway for the first time in 2022.

Officers reported 236 permit parking tickets issued for the year, with the majority of them coming before June.

“I think people got used to seeing the enforcement and they knew if they didn’t have a permit and parked there, they were getting a ticket,” Sofranko said. “It’s kind of like moving your car for the snow plow. The first snow event there are a whole bunch of tickets and then by the third or fourth one you are down to a couple of cars that don’t move.”

Council President Greg Strubinger thanked the department for its continued efforts to keep the community and residents safe.

“The safety of our residents is paramount,” he said, “and our department does a great job year in and year out.”