BIDDEFORD — The city’s Police Department has released its 2016 annual report, showing a decrease in violent crime but an increase in drug-related activity over the past three years.

The report comes a little more than a month after it was reported that crime is on the decline in Biddeford. Police Chief Roger Beaupre summarized the 34-page report for the City Council on Feb. 21, calling the declining trends “significant.”

As one of Maine’s 26 Public Safety Answering Points, the Police Department handled 53,723 calls during 2016. Police report that calls are down 2 percent from 2015, but are up 4 percent from 2013, despite a 10 percent decrease in arrests from that year.

In 2016, there were a total of 4,967 offenses, about 1,900 of which were criminal. Despite one murder and two instances of kidnapping in 2016, the number is a significant decrease from 2015, during which there were 5,490 offenses — a decrease of 9.5 percent.

Crime overall is down 15 percent from 2013.

Police report that the most serious crimes — known as Group A offenses — such as murder, assault, theft, fraud and drug and sex crimes, are down 15 percent from 2015 and 20 percent from 2013. Group B offenses, which include disorderly conduct, non-violent family offenses and trespassing, among others, are down nearly 9 percent from 2015 and 21 percent over the past three years.

Drug offenses are of concern, however. While they were down 11 percent from 2015, they were still 56 percent higher than 2013. Similarly, there was a decline in drug arrests in 2016 compared to 2015, with statistics showing a 1.5 percent decline. There were, however, 255 drug arrests in 2016, 89 percent more than 2013’s 135 arrests.

Arrests involving the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency are down, though. MDEA arrests in Biddeford are down 36 percent from 2015 and 19 percent overall.

Beaupre acknowledged that drug abuse and domestic violence are of concern within Maine’s sixth-largest city.

“Our community and our department continue to struggle with the societal and psychological challenges associated to domestic violence, mental health, and the abuse of drugs and alcohol,” he wrote.

Beaupre said officers on average responded to more than two reports of domestic violence per day in 2016, with a total 774 calls related to domestic disturbances. That’s 14 percent greater than 2015, despite 72 percent of calls being determined to be non-criminal, verbal arguments.

The remaining 28 percent of calls resulted in arrests of about 214 individuals. That’s an increase of 14 percent from 2015. Alcohol and drugs were determined to be factors in 27 percent of domestic violence calls in 2016.

Drug overdoses are also on the rise. According to police, there were 132 overdoses of over-the-counter, prescription or illegal drugs in 2016. That’s double the 61 reported in 2013.

A total of 165 doses of the drug Narcan, an opiate antidote, was administered to 105 individuals in 2016. In 2009, only 19 doses were administered to 14 individuals.

Beaupre is positive the recent hiring of Saco-Biddeford Opiate Outreach Liaison Maegan Lambert-Irish will have a positive impact on the community.

In good news, juvenile arrests in the city are down 10 percent from 2015 and 46 percent from 2013. In 2016, there were 129 juvenile arrests; there were 238 in 2013. Beaupre attributed this achievement to, “the collaborative effort of our initiatives, the schools and community programs.”

Beaupre also said traffic enforcement has become, and continues to be, a key component in protecting the community. An average of 34 traffic stops per day in 2016, resulted in 13,669 warnings and 3,627 citations.

Beaupre said the Police Department has begun utilizing traffic stops to not only cite drivers, but educate them.

“Our strategy for traffic stops has shifted over the years to one that has a heavy focus on educating drivers, with the goal of changing operators’ behavior to voluntary compliance,” Beaupre wrote. “(This is) exhibited by the ratio between warnings and citations.”

Traffic stops in 2016 resulted in 104 arrests for individuals operating under the influence; 265 criminal and civil charges for those operating with suspended licenses; 120 drug-related charges; 65 warrant arrests; and 102 other criminal offenses.

Beaupre has credited Biddeford’s decrease in crime to a number of police and community initiatives, such as the creation of the BPD Street Crimes Unit in 2014, and the strategic placement of officers with affiliated regional offices, such as the U.S. Marshals’ office in Portland.

He went on to thank his police force for their dedicated service, and city officials for supporting the department as it works to make the community safer.

“I thank the dedicated and professional men and women of this agency who serve our citizens and visitors to our community and on their behalf,” he wrote. “I extend our sincere gratitude to the community and elected officials for their continued support as we fulfill our mission of enhancing the quality of life, promoting a safe and caring environment, and ensuring that each individual is treated fairly and with respect.”

The full BPD 2016 Annual Report can be found on the police department’s website, bpd.net.

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com.