The DeKalb Police Department is patrolling downtown DeKalb on weekends to stop acts such as vandalism, littering and the illegal selling of alcohol.

The police used foot patrolmen in plain-clothes and uniform, as well as “marked and unmarked” police vehicles, said DeKalb Police Chief Don Berke.

The start of the school year and number of weekend visitors have increased the DeKalb population. This increases the amount of illegal acts in DeKalb, Berke said.

The “general number of complaints” by the community about problems such as littering and loud noise has increased since school has begun, he said.

This past weekend several arrests were made by the patrol, including several for selling alcohol without a license, Berke said. Police hope to solve any incidents that might occur through “compliance,” he said.

Although the foot patrol proved successful last weekend, it is “kind of premature” to speculate on how effective the patrol can be in the future, he said.

The patrol is “just a protective step” for DeKalb and “hopefully the streets will be safer” as a result, he said.

The patrol was initiated in the spring of 1989 due to complaints by the merchants in the downtown area, he said. The response to the patrol was “positive” and the merchants claimed they “felt much safer in the downtown area,” Berke said.

Merchants in downtown DeKalb were very appreciative of the patrol and favored the idea when it began, said Karen Remen, vice president of the Greater DeKalb Partnership, Inc.

“It (the patrol) was terrific, and I think it’s a good idea,” but the main problem stems from the taverns downtown, said Lance Hansen, owner of Lansirs on Lincoln, 112 E. Lincoln Hwy.