Coplay is following a trend when it comes to crime.

A 2014 year-end report presented last month by police Chief Vincent Genovese says 126 crimes were reported in 2013 compared to 89 crimes reported in 2014.

"Crime is down. We've noticed a trend that crime is down in most places," Genovese told The Press in an interview Feb. 3.

That doesn't mean the police haven't been busy.

"Our call total is basically the same. It didn't come down," Genovese said.

During 2014, the department responded to 2,769 calls, which came both from the county dispatch and from people who called the department directly.

This compares to 4,814 calls in Catasauqua, 2,291 in North Catasauqua and 2,285 in Walnutport.

The highest number of calls fall into a category known as "citizens assists." This category is for things that do not fit into other established categories. It could be anything from someone asking for directions to helping someone who has fallen and doesn't want an ambulance

In 2014, Coplay police officers responded to 370 calls that fell into the citizen assist category.

Genovese described Coplay as a "service oriented" police department.

"We do everything. It's a small town and the police are called for just about everything," Genovese said, adding that other, larger police departments might not be able to respond to some of these types of calls.

"This is what's expected in your small town and we're glad to do it," he said. "We provide public service to the residents."

The crimes in 2014 included 45 thefts, which is down by 11 from 2013. At 15 cases, vandalism is down by 11 and the number of assults in 2014 was two, representing a drop of six.

With six cases, fraud was up by two over the previous year. The others crimes include one aggravated assault, 11 burglaries (down one from 2013), two drug cases, one DUI (down two from 2013), two disorderly conduct and three that fall under "all other offenses." There were no cases of vagrancy in 2014, though four cases had been reported in 2013, according to the report.

Of those crimes, 21 were solved or, in police terms "cleared." A total of 15 crimes were cleared by arrest, one was unfounded and five were cleared by exception.

"Cleared by exception means you know who did it ... but for whatever reason the victim doesn't want anything done," said Genovese. "If they would want to the charges filed, we would have enough to file charges."

Some other terms often confused by the public are "robbery" and "burglary." A burglary is when someone enters an unoccupied building or other structure and steals. A robbery is when the victim is present and the item or items taken by force, Genovese said.

Coplay has three full-time officers plus the chief and eight part-time officers. They provide coverage of the one-square-mile borough 24 hours a day, seven days a week.