At the Sept. 2 City Commission meeting, the Kentwood Police Department presented its 2024 annual report and commissioners voted to receive and file the document. Police leadership summarized staffing, crime and service trends and new equipment and technology purchases tied to a millage approved earlier by voters.

The report noted the department responded to 17,742 calls for service in 2024 and conducted more than 9,500 traffic stops, generating more than 27,000 official citizen contacts. The department reported a 13% decrease in violent crime compared with 2023 and a 7.6% decline versus the five‑year average; property crimes were reported down 14% from 2023 and 5% versus the five‑year average, with larceny identified as the largest category. Adult arrests were up 19% year‑over‑year while juvenile arrests fell 19%.

Police leaders said equipment and program changes supported operations. Highlights included adding a second K‑9 team (a new dog began duty the day of the meeting and will undergo a month of training), expanding the drone fleet to four units and implementing an Axon Officer Safety Plan and new report‑writing system with translation capabilities. Staff said the translation service available through body‑worn cameras supports more than 56 languages and had been tested with Bosnian and Spanish speakers.

The report included use‑of‑force and internal‑investigation data. Officers documented 123 incidents in 2024 that met the department’s use‑of‑force reporting threshold; staff described that as roughly 0.004% of contacts and said none of those incidents resulted in a serious injury to suspects or officers. The department reported 27 internal investigations in 2024; 15 were sustained and described as policy or procedure violations (often report‑writing or attendance issues). External complaints that rose to investigation were largely not sustained, the report said.

A citizen survey program was summarized: about 7,000 surveys were sent after calls for service, roughly 2,600 were returned, and respondents rated service highly — 97% satisfied overall, 94% saying officers explained processes well and 98% saying officers were professional.

Commissioners asked about the report’s technology and crime‑solving impacts, and the police director offered to provide more detailed materials on camera and cross‑jurisdictional usage. After questions, the commission voted to receive and file the 2024 annual report.

The meeting also included an oath of office for new officer Larkin Wagner, who was sworn in earlier in the agenda.