Major crime, traffic accidents and traffic fatalities went down in 1998 from 1997, but traffic citations issued last year rose by 62 percent, Peachtree City police reports show.

Police Chief Jim Murray attributed the rise in tickets issued to the initiation of the department's Community Response Team for neighborhood and traffic enforcement, the department's award-winning participation in the Georgia State Patrol "Operation Strap and Snap" seat-belt program, and the new rotating expirations on Georgia license plates.

"Any time you put in a traffic unit," he said, "tickets will go up. Compared to some other Georgia cities about the same size, we don't write that many tickets. And it's a proven fact that if you step up traffic enforcement, other kinds of crimes go down." He said the department is preparing comparison statistics.

"Part 1 Crimes" figures show 1997-98 comparisons as follows: murder, 1-0; rape, 0-1; robbery, 3-1; burglary, 24-27; larceny, 392-309; auto theft, 44-27; aggravated assault, 8-6; arson, 4-1. The department received 32,535 calls for service in 1998, compared to 24,599 in 1997, up 32 percent.

Murray said that traffic accidents went down for the first time in 10 years, although the decrease was small 889 accidents in 1998 as compared to 893 accidents in 1997. However, there were two traffic deaths in 1998 and three in 1997, he added.

Increased enforcement at Ga. highways 54 and 74, the city's most dangerous intersection, resulted in a drop in the number of accidents there from 59 to 46 from 1997-98, the chief said. Accident numbers went up from 29 to 34 at Hwy. 54 and Peachtree Parkway; down from 16 to 13 at Hwy. 74 and Peachtree Parkway; up from 19 to 24 at Hwy. 74 and Crosstown Road; up from 22 to 24 at Hwy. 54 and Walt Banks Road, and remained the same at 21 at Hwy. 74 and Kelly Drive, the report states.

Murray said the Community Response Team's "resources were directed to target high accident locations and traffic violations that are the leading cause of collisions. These violations included speeding, disregarding traffic lights and stop signs, improper passing and failure to yield the right of way." An actual breakdown of violations for which tickets were issued is being prepared, he added.