While a lot of people spent Christmas Day and the holiday weekend opening gifts and enjoying the company of family and friends, area police continued to work in their communities by responding to crime and emergency situations.

Since Dec. 21, Eastlake police have handled six motor vehicle accidents, three DUIs, three warrants, three domestic disturbances, two disorderly conducts, two domestic violence incidences, two driving under suspension cases, a temporary protective order violation, a recovered stolen gun and one case of possession of marijuana.

Eastlake Chief of Police Larry Reik mentioned that he doesn’t see much of a pattern of crime around Christmas.

A lot depends on what else is going on, what’s noticed.” Reik said. “With the OVIs, sometimes we see the people, sometimes we’re busy on other calls.”

He also cited alcohol and family events as possible catalysts for domestic issues during Christmas.

“Domestic disputes and domestic violence — sometimes those stem from family get-togethers or when you have more people around, ” Reik said. “There’s typically a little bit of drinking involved too, so those two factors sometimes create the genesis for the problem.”

Reik mentioned that they have a minimum number of officers on duty on Christmas, usually three during the day and four at night.

“Typically, I think most agencies — with the holidays — you’re going to be at whatever your minimum is,” he said, “because people will use their vacation and other stuff to get their time off to spend with their families when they can.”

Eastlake officers were not the only ones with work to do over the holiday week. The chief mentioned that officers from neighboring communities had joined in in response to a crash.

Regarding the past week, Reik added, “Even though it might not have been a lot of historic stuff, the guys stayed pretty busy keeping things together while most people are enjoying their holiday.”