A new report has found that Wheeling police responded to an increasing number of calls last year.

The statistics reflect the 2012 calendar year compared to 2011. City police responded to 26,847 calls in 2012, which is an increase of 5 percent from 2011.

Police saw a 6 percent increase in the number of arrests in 2012 and a 3 percent increase in the number of victims reported.

Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger said “Group A” serious crimes went down by 7.8 percent in a year’s time. Those crimes include robbery, murder and forcible sex acts.

The chief said “Group B” crimes rose by 9 percent. Crimes in that group include driving under the influence, vagrancy and disorderly conduct complaints.

Car thefts also increased dramatically over the last year. In addition, police saw a 42 percent increase in DUI arrests and a 43 increase in the number of traffic citations.

During the 2012 calendar year, the city still had to have two police officers per cruiser. A new ordinance passed by city voters revoked that law, but the new rule which allows one officer per cruiser didn’t go into effect until a few weeks ago.