Property crime drops again in village

Residential burglaries also declined in 2014, but traffic wrecks rose.

WELLINGTON — Palm Beach County sheriff ’s officials say criminal activity in Wellington continues to decline in several key areas — including a drop in property crimes for the fifth straight year.

Wellington District Commander Capt. Jay Hart shared his 2014 fiscal year statistics with Village Council members this week.

Hart said there were 630 property crimes during that 12-month period, the lowest amount in five years, and down 13 percent from the 713 cases the year before.

The 2014 fiscal year ran from Oct. 1, 2013, until Sept. 30.

Other major categories that

Get more news every day about Wellington and the other western communities at the Community Post blog. saw falling rates were residential burglaries and vandalism, both declining by nearly 19 percent.

Traffic crashes slightly increased on the year, with about 2.4 crashes per 100 residents, or averaging 119 crash- es every month, Hart said.

One of the sheriff ’s goals for this year is to lower that rate to below 2.2 crashes per 100 residents, he said.

To encourage safer driving, deputies conducted almost 11,000 traffic stops during the year, 11 percent more than in 2013.

But that didn’t mean more drivers got hit with expensive fines, Hart said.

Fewer than three out of five drivers stopped by deputies received a ticket.

“We’re trying to show them the error of their ways without getting into their pocket,” Hart said.

“We’re trying to educate the public on what they’ve done wrong,

deputies