For anyone looking to move into a safe town, Windsor Police Chief John Michaels said Windsor is the place for them.

“We have a very safe community,” Michaels said. “The philosophy of the Windsor Police Department is to be high profile, high visibility. You will see us around town. If the citizens see us, hopefully the crooks are seeing us, too.”

According to the 2012 crime statistics released by the police department, felonies such as theft, fraud, criminal mischief, criminal trespass and auto theft are among the felony complaints that were down from the 2011 stats.

There were no homicides in Windsor in 2012, and there were none in 2011 either.

There was a spike in felony arrests from 49 in 2011 to 66 in 2012, a 35 percent increase. Part of that could have been an increase in criminal trespass for vehicles — 54 in 2012 vs. 40 in 2011.

“That shows the different classification of incidents that are going on in our community that there were more felony incidents,” Michaels said. “We try and deal with each one of these as quickly as possible and come to a resolution on them. We work the cases very hard.”

There is more opportunity for crime in the growing community.

“We’re a town of 20,000-plus now. I think the change that I’ve seen over the years is in the fall and winter things are fairly slow because of the cold weather and darkness,” Michaels said. “Our population level now keeps our activity level at a more steady pace. Certainly, in the summer months it goes up. It always had in the past. There’s more sunshine, more activity going on, more people outside, more alcohol consumption, and all that plays into it. Crooks don’t like 20-below zero either.”

The police department has 21 officers, and Michaels has been the police chief since 1984. The police department has an annual budget of $2.5 million. Its coverage area is 22 square miles from Interstate 25 to the west to U.S. 34 to the south to Weld County roads 74 and 76 to the north and to the Great Western Industrial Park to the east.