The Cedartown area was blessed with a low-crime Christmas holiday, as area police officers answered a relatively low number of calls on Christmas day.

From Wednesday, Dec. 24, through Thursday, Dec. 25, only seven offenders were booked at the Polk County Jail, according to book-in information. Those numbers reflect arrests for all of Polk County’s law enforcement agencies – Cedartown, Rockmart, Aragon and Polk County police departments, and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

“On Christmas day, people are out in their backyards playing Santa Claus,” said Cedartown Officer Anthony Wood. Most the citizenry spends more time with their families during the holidays, Wood said, including the criminal element.

Over the course of 2003, the Cedartown Police Department has answered more calls than in 2002. “The call volume has been up this year,” Wood said.

But on Christmas, Wood said there were fewer crimes committed. “As far as the first shift,” he said, “I feel like it’s gone down a little bit [from last Christmas].” For the entire department, the officers answered 42 calls on Christmas Eve. That number dropped to 28 calls on Christmas day, according to Emergency 911.

In the weeks before and after Christmas, the crime rates usually increase, particularly thefts, said Wood. “[Thefts] will go up right before and go down around Christmas and Christmas Eve,” he stated. The thefts, he felt, are usually on the rise near the holidays because people sell stolen merchandise to buy gifts for their loved ones. “People are out getting things pawned for Christmas,” Wood said.

Another explanation for the lower crime rate on Christmas

is enhanced patrol. “There’s more officer presence during the holidays,” said Sgt. Jimmy Ray. The increased patrol, he said, helps deter much of the criminal element.

“Our chief makes sure we patrol the parking lots around Christmas time,” said Wood. “A lot of cars get stolen out of parking lots around Christmas.”

While much of Cedartown is in the holiday spirit on Christmas, the mood changes as the New Year approaches, according to Wood. “It’ll pick back up at New Year’s,” he said. “Everybody gets out of the Christmas spirit.”

New Year’s, he explained, is volatile mostly due to the increased alcohol consumption.

But for now, Cedartown residents can feel a bit of reassurance knowing that at least for one day in the year, people were kinder towards one another.