The number of traffic tickets issued last year by police in Cotati and Rohnert Park dropped by more than half while the number in Windsor soared, according to Sonoma County traffic court records.

A total of 80,395 tickets in 2010 were filed for processing with the court, up from 77,351 in 2009. The tickets were from all local police agencies, from the CHP to state Fish and Game to park departments, and covered all types of traffic violations.

The CHP turned in the most tickets at 40,095 in 2010 compared to 39,189 in 2009. The least among the county’s cities was Cloverdale with 536 in 2010, up from 415 in 2009.

Cotati’s tickets fell to 606 in 2010 from 1,434 in 2009. Rohnert Park’s also dropped sharply to 2,074 in 2010 from 4,214 in 2009. Windsor jumped to 791 in 2010 from 478 in 2009.

Cotati Police Chief Michael Parish attributed his department’s drop to “scarce resources” for staffing, explaining that a shortage of officers left the department “bare bones on patrol” and it hasn’t been able assign an officer to focus on traffic violations.

But he said he recently hired two officers to help fill the department’s ranks and he hopes to eventually again deploy the motorcycle traffic officer, at least part time.

A staffing shortage also primarily is to blame for Rohnert Park’s drop in tickets, said Sgt. Jason Krauss of the city’s Department of Public Safety.

Krauss said Rohnert Park went from two motorcycle officers in 2009 to one in 2010 when one of them was used to fill patrol vacancies. And even the one remaining motorcycle officer is assigned patrol duties now and then, he said.

But Krauss said just because fewer tickets are being written it doesn’t mean drivers can get away with ignoring the law in Rohnert Park.

He said other officers are stepping up their traffic enforcement, with a particular focus on the city’s intersections with the most collisions. To see what those intersections are, CLICK HERE.

No one was available at the Windsor Police Department to explain the jump in tickets there.

For the county’s other cities, Healdsburg had 572 tickets in 2010 vs. 668 in 2009, Sonoma 758 in 2010 vs. 874 in 2009, Sebastopol 1,145 in 2010 vs. 1,407 in 2009, Petaluma 7,620 in 2010 vs. 7,042 in 2009 and Santa Rosa 23,518 in 2010 vs. 19,051 in 2009.

The Sheriff’s Office filed 1,369 in 2010 compared to 1,556 in 2009. And other law enforcement agencies, such as Fish and Game, filed a total of 1,311 in 2010 vs. 1,023 in 2009.