Despite a slight uptick in serious crimes in Austin since 2009, Police Chief Brian Krueger said there is no reason for concern.

“In law enforcement, we see ebbs and flows in crime,” Krueger said. “If it’s something significant, we’ll do everything we can to stop that criminal activity.”

Krueger recently released the 2010 annual police report to City Council members. The report, which also outlines the main events from 2010, lays out crime statistics from 2006 to 2010.

The Mower County Sheriff’s Department does not release an annual report.

Krueger said it’s more important to look at the trend over the last five years than to be alarmed if a crime spikes in a one-year period.

“It’s important to look back at a four or five year average,” he said. “In one given year, you can have a drop in certain areas and an increase in others.”

For instance, simple assaults increased from 284 total assaults to 357 from 2009 to 2010. However, over a five-year period assaults decreased overall. Krueger said this can be attributed to many factors, including something as simple as the weather.

“Our last two winters were a little rougher and longer than other ones. People can get stir crazy,” he said. “I’m not blaming it all on that, but the weather can play a part in (crime).”

Some indications of crime have lessened both over the last year and over a five-year period. From 2009 to 2010, juvenile arrests decreased by 125. Since 2006, they have decreased by nearly 200.

Krueger said he hopes that number is getting smaller due to the work of his officers.

“I’d like to think that some of the work the school resource officers are doing at the schools are getting through to the general population,” he said.

He said sometimes juvenile arrest numbers will increase solely based on how many juvenile parties get rowdy throughout the year. More rowdy parties leads to more arrests, he indicated.

When it comes to priorities, Krueger said narcotics and crimes against people are always at the top of the list. There were only 17 more narcotics cases in 2010 than in 2009, but Krueger said focusing on that area helps with preventing many crimes.

“The narcotics usually branch off into several other problems,” he said. “If we can do as much as we can with drug activity, then hopefully we can slow down some check forgery thefts or break-ins.”

Krueger said he is proud of the job the officers are doing, especially in being proactive and seeking out offenders.

“Our officers don’t get enough credit for the things they do in the community. Last year we did four or five saves with the defibrillators,” Krueger said. “They put the uniform on and have a job to do. They provide outstanding care. They take the uniform off and they’re just normal people.”