WALKER - Walker Police Chief David Addison told WBRZ his police department arrested more people last year passing through the city than ever before.

"It's my promise and my duty to keep it free of crime as possible," Addison said.

According to crime stats WBRZ obtained, last year there were:

1,605 ARRESTS
8,669 CITATIONS
14,549 CALLS FOR SERVICE
499 ACCIDENTS ON THE HIGHWAY
111 PARKING LOT CRASHES
523 PEOPLE CITED FOR DRIVING WITHOUT INSURANCE...
227 DRUG ARRESTS AND STREET LEVEL CRIMES

All of those arrests and citations actually turned out to be good for city coffers. The city brought in more than half a million dollars.

In one case that got federal attention, a trio from out of state was using stolen credit cards in Walker to purchase cigarettes. The clerk at the store got suspicious after a large amount of cigarettes were being purchased. She called police and that's when they found all of the cigarettes, stolen credit cards and a skimmer device.

"We found a lady and two males who had fake birth certificates," Addison said. "They had notary public stamps that they had stolen to make it look official and stolen ID's... 40 of them."

With all of the issues that have cropped up, Chief Addison said he's started a street crimes unit and drug interdiction unit as Walker sits in a high-intensity drug-trafficking area right off of I-12.

"A lot of people see Walker and think we're an easy target," Addison said. "We're not. When you come to Walker and commit a crime, we catch you."

The City of Walker Police Department currently has 44 employees. They're looking to hire four more officers, and the department is getting ready to move into some new digs once the new city hall is completed.