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Coldwater police report steady crime levels, staffing gains and training priorities
Summary
Police Chief Joe presented the department's 2024 annual report: the department was fully staffed with 22 sworn officers, reported a 4% decrease in reported crimes year over year, highlighted use of automated camera alerts, accreditation and expanded training, and noted plans for active-violence readiness and continued community outreach.
Coldwater Police Chief Joe presented the department's 2024 annual report to the council, reporting that the department ended the reporting period fully staffed with 22 sworn officers and saw a slight decline in reported crimes compared with 2023.
Joe told the council the department recorded 1,175 reported crimes in 2024, down from 1,226 in 2023, a 4% decrease. He said that some past higher crime counts were tied to marijuana-related enforcement and that criminal-reporting trends have generally been flat over a 10-year view. He said about 69 percent of cases sent to prosecutors are authorized for formal action, and that overall the department closed or identified suspects in about 80 percent of cases it handled.
On staffing and training, Joe said half the sworn officers are under 30 or have five years or less of service, and that the department has been active in recruitment and academy sponsorships. He noted that officers averaged far more than the new state continuing-education requirement, with the department logging roughly 100 hours of training per officer in 2024. The department is preparing for an on-site accreditation review in July and said Deputy Chief Beeman is serving as an assessor for other agencies.
Joe highlighted technological and programmatic work: the department operates four automated license-plate-read cameras (Flock) installed on U.S. 12 and reported 69 alerts in 2024 that produced eight felony investigations locally and four related to outside jurisdictions. He described an incident in September where a Flock alert helped identify a stolen vehicle that led to a multi-jurisdictional arrest. He also described workload in records and evidence: the department's property room holds roughly 3,500 items; staff processed about 469 FOIA requests in the year and have taken on new electronic-submission work to meet prosecutor office requirements.
On community and crisis response, Joe said mobile-crisis team calls decreased (43 calls in 2024 vs. 90 in 2023) but that the Pines mobile crisis response remains a critical partner. For future goals, he identified active-violence planning via the StrataCyte system in cooperation with county law enforcement and schools, increased force-on-force and tactical training, and continued recruitment and retention efforts.
Ending: The chief thanked council and residents for support, and staff said progress on accreditation, training and regional active-violence planning will continue over the coming year.
