Come September, the "Beaufort Cavalry" -- the city's first line of defense -- hopes to have some reinforcements against attrition and an increase in violent crime.

Following Monday's armed robbery at a Boundary Street department store in which a shotgun was fired, the city has stepped forward with a plan to beef up the number of patrolmen and increase their salaries.

Mayor Bill Rauch points to the quick work of the Beaufort Police Department to capture suspects in Monday's robbery at Talbots department store as the ability of the force to hold its own against an increase in crime. But Rauch wants City Manager Scott Dadson and Police Chief Jeff Dowling to present budget figures to the City Council next month to position the department to keep Beaufort a safe place. "If the bad guys are going to kick it up a notch, then the good guys are going to kick it up a notch, too," Rauch said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's preliminary annual Uniform Crime Report for 2005, which was released in June, shows that violent crime was up 2.5 percent and that robberies increased 4.5 percent. Robberies in the South increased 4.8 percent. This was the highest increase in 15 years and follows a three-year decline. The FBI defines violent crimes as assault, sexual assault and armed robberies.

Dowling points out that Beaufort is keeping pace with the increase across the nation. In 2005 Beaufort's crimes in the FBI Crime index jumped significantly. Rapes that were handled by the Beaufort Police Department were up 62 percent from over 2004 from 5 to 13 . Robberies were up, too, from 37 to 51.

Even though violent crimes have increased, Dowling thinks the department is staying on top of the high-profile crimes. He points to an arrest within two days of the Talbots robbery and quick response and arrests with the rapes in downtown Beaufort this summer. This was done with a staff that wasn't up to 100 percent of force. That problem should be solved within two weeks, Dowling said.

According to Dadson, the call volume the police department handles has increased tremendously in the last two years. In 2004, the department received 30,000 calls; in 2005, it took 35,000 calls; and the number is projected to hit 40,000 this year.

Dowling points out that 80 percent of the calls are for service to people who don't live in the city. "With those calls, we are only serving 20 percent of the people of Beaufort."

Still, the city is wise to examine its salary scale in the context of Bluffton hiring a large force and an 8 percent pay increase that the Beaufort County Sheriff's Department awarded to a large portion of its force in July.

The primary message behind this, according to Mayor Rauch, is: "We aren't going to stop crime here, but if you engage in it in Beaufort, you are going to go to jail."