ADVANCE -- Police Chief Don Cecil said he wants to keep his town safe with preventative law enforcement.

That includes local officers patrolling 60 to 100 miles a night and writing tickets they deem justified, Cecil said.

Officers aren't just writing tickets, but also checking homes and businesses, he said, adding there hasn't been a burglary for some time.

In December, police wrote 43 tickets; in January, 20.

One woman received five last month, including a charge for driving while intoxicated after she drove away from police to evade arrest. A man in her car was charged with possessing less than 35 grams of marijuana.

A review of the January tickets showed the minimum amount for a speeding ticket was 15 miles over the speed limit, similar to December's tickets, Cecil said. One person was ticketed last month for driving 65 in a 25 mph zone near the school.

Mayor Bill Bradshaw said there has been some talk in town about the number of speeding tickets.

"But I don't know what's excessive," Bradshaw said about the number of tickets being issued. "The council hasn't felt like they've been excessive."

He said police issue a lot of regular and warning tickets, adding that he didn't think anyone on the council has tried to interfere with what the police department has been doing.

"The main thing is to make the streets safe," Bradshaw said. "We haven't had any special push to write tickets. As far as the council's concerned, let the chief do his job."

Bradshaw has received only two phone calls from residents who were issued tickets. One complained about the police officer being rude, and another thought the ticket was untimely.

No one said they didn't deserve the tickets, Bradshaw said.

Cecil said area residents are starting to slow down and local accidents have decreased.