Police calls down nearly 20 percent since 2022

By JEFF MORRIS

The Bedford Police Department experienced a sizable drop in calls for service last year.

That was just one highlight of Police Chief Melvin Padilla’s annual report, presented to the Town Board on March 3. 

It included a graphic depicting an overview of the number of calls for service in 2025. It showed a dramatic drop in the number of calls, totaling 26,180 for the year, compared with 28,738 in 2024 and 29,265 in 2023. That’s a decrease of 9% for the year, and more than 10% over two years.

A look back at a previous department report shows there were 31,851 calls in 2022, meaning the total number of calls has dropped 18% over three years.

Padilla did not offer an explanation for this drop. He said the overview saw “a bit of a dip” in total calls for service. “We wouldn’t be able to identify any particular reason for that; it does fluctuate from year to year,” he said.

A subsequent graphic showed larceny, which Padilla defined as theft of property, as the most frequent crime, far outranking all other criminal activity on a consistent basis over the past three years, with 55 in 2023, 58 in 2024, and 59 in 2025. 

The next highest categories in 2025 were criminal mischief and criminal contempt, with 12 each, and 10 cases of DWI coming in third. The numbers for criminal mischief and driving while intoxicated were both down from 2024, when there were 14 of each, and criminal mischief was down considerably from a total of 20 in 2023. 

However, criminal contempt has shown a steady rise, from three in 2023 to seven in 2024 and 12 in 2025. Padilla described criminal contempt as defying a court order.

Another crime that has shown a significant drop is burglary. There were 16 burglaries in 2023, making it the third most frequent crime that year; that number fell to seven in 2024 and three in 2025.

Among other crimes the department categorizes, assault went from seven in 2023, up to eight in 2024, and back down to four in 2025. There were six cases of motor vehicle theft in 2023, eight in 2024, and back to six in 2025. And while there were nine sex offenses in 2023, there were none in either 2024 or 2025. Padilla said there was some consistency across the three years in DWIs, criminal mischief and larcenies. “An example of what a larceny would be, would be theft from Kohl’s,” said Padilla.

Padilla showed a comparison between Bedford and two neighboring jurisdictions that he said shared their information — Yorktown and Carmel. Larceny was the highest total in all three towns, but Bedford’s 59 was far lower than Carmel’s 160 and Yorktown’s 209. And the four assaults in Bedford in 2025 were dwarfed by 32 in Carmel and 100 in Yorktown. 

The three-town comparison displayed by Padilla at the meeting was not included in the version of the report subsequently provided to The Recorder by the department. The 2025 report has not yet been posted to the department’s website.

“You can see, generally speaking, when dealing with assault, burglary, criminal contempt, criminal mischief, larceny, and motor vehicle theft, the town of Bedford is experiencing less criminal activity than some of the neighboring jurisdictions,” Padilla said. “The reason for that is not only from proactive policing, obviously, but it is from proactive relationships with our town residents, it is from a great deal of support from our elected officials — thank you for that — by allowing us to have the resources and equipment and training that is necessary to maintain that low level of criminal activity.” 

The number of arrests has been increasing, from 31 in 2022 to 49 in 2023, 52 in 2024 and 58 in 2025. Data provided by the department shows the demographic breakdown of those arrested has shifted. In 2022, 13 were white and 15 Hispanic; in 2023, 19 were white and 23 Hispanic; in 2024, 23 were white and 22 Hispanic; and in 2025, 24 were white and 20 Hispanic. Meanwhile, the number of Black arrestees rose from one in 2022, to four in 2023, to six in 2024, to 12 in 2025.

Another interesting detail pointed out by Padilla is that the number of town residents among those arrested went from 42% in 2024 to 22% in 2025, while nonresidents arrested jumped from 58% to 78%. Or, as Padilla characterized it, “In 2025 there was a decrease in resident criminal activity and an increase in nonresident criminal activity.”

Padilla emphasized that one thing that would really impact the incidence of larceny is “locking our belongings up and trying not leave them out in plain sight in our vehicles.” He said this could have a significant impact on reducing overall criminal opportunity and have a beneficial impact on the town.

An analysis by The Recorder has revealed that significant portions of the town budget go to relatively high police salaries compared to other town agencies, and growing retirement benefits written into police union contracts.

Police regular pay plus overtime — mostly exceeding $100,000 — is up 2.3% this year from 2025 while the total police budget has grown 3.5%, to $7.6 million. Police officers comprise 35 of the top 40 salaries on the town payroll. Police pension expenses have spiked 23.2% in 2026.