East Lansing residents should be more neighborly to one another so the city’s police force can turn its attention to more important matters.

The State News reported last week that an increase in calls to handle petty theft, noise violations and vandalism are directly related to hindering the East Lansing Police Department’s ability to curb drunken driving and other serious crimes.

In 1990, East Lansing police arrested 581 drunk drivers. In 2000, that figure was 332.

The decline in drunken driving statistics should be something to celebrate. Instead it has East Lansing police officers concerned that their ability to keep roads safe has been compromised. That’s frightening.

Notably, fewer drunken driving arrests also can be attributed to efforts in local bars and public education about the issue. Still, East Lansing police Officer Dan DeKorte said routine service calls are keeping patrollers preoccupied from more vital enforcement duties.

Since 1990, service calls to East Lansing police - including noise complaints - increased by more than 10,000 per year from 28,579 to 39,253. Noise violation citations alone went up from 350 in 1999 to 463 in 2000.

These statistics are troubling because they indicate residents are not doing their part to solve their neighborly disputes. Instead, their lack of neighborly hospitality is affecting the safety of East Lansing as a whole.

We urge residents to stop calling on police for every minor inconvenience.

If your neighbors are playing their music too loud, go talk to them about it when the time is appropriate. Don’t call on the police to solve your problems because you may be uncomfortable dealing with the situation.

At the same time, students - who happen to be the cause of a significant number of complaints - need to be more respectful of full-time residents in the city. Neighbors should never have to be bothered in the first place.

With the budget cuts approved by the East Lansing City Council last week, time for patrols could be reduced further. The council shaved $695,875 from its budget, which included a slash in the force’s overtime capabilities.

That means fewer police may be on duty in East Lansing than we are used too - and that means calls for small problems are going to be more of a problem than they already are.

This is a simple problem with a simple solution. East Lansing residents need to be more neighborly to one another - on both sides of the stereo speaker.