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Belton Police present 2024 annual and racial‑profiling reports; traffic stops largely warnings, calls rise slightly
Summary
Chief Ellis told the council the department logged 34,964 calls in 2024, traffic stops numbered 9,776 with 70% resulting in warnings, response times averaged about 4½ minutes for priority calls, and a legislatively required racial‑profiling review showed no alarming disparities.
The Belton City Council received the Belton Police Department’s 2024 annual report and the department’s racial‑profiling report during its Feb. 25 meeting. Chief Ellis (identified in council remarks as the chief) summarized department activity, training initiatives and outreach programs and provided the statutorily required racial‑profiling analysis.
Nut graf: The report shows a modest increase in overall calls for service and several ongoing initiatives — partnership growth with Belton ISD, expanded youth and explorer programming, a focus on traffic enforcement and a transition to new training and firearms‑aid technology — while the department’s racial‑profiling review did not reveal any outlier patterns that would suggest systemic disparity in stops.
Key numbers and trends
• Calls for service: 34,964 in 2024, a small increase from 2023. • Traffic stops: 9,776 stops; roughly 70% resulted in warnings rather than citations, according to the report. • Response times: Priority‑1 response averaged about 4.5 minutes; overall response times and turnout times improved slightly from the prior year. • Crime and arrests: Arrests decreased about 0.37 percent; Part I index crimes rose about 0.37 percent overall; burglaries decreased by 13 percent compared with the prior year. • Sexual assaults: The department reported 42 sexual‑assault incidents. Chief Ellis said roughly half of those incidents were connected to two behavioral‑health or residential facilities; staff said they are meeting with those facilities to review policies and reporting procedures.
Programs and training
Chief Ellis described an emphasis on partnerships with schools, media and community groups, and highlighted work to align the department’s explorer program with the Boy Scouts of America to allow more organized participation in regional competitions. The department is transitioning firearms instructors and school resource officers to a red‑dot sighting platform and exploring expanded SWAT capabilities including potential task‑force affiliation to obtain federal resources.
Victim services and community outreach
The department highlighted victim‑services work and the addition of volunteer victim‑service callers; the department’s victim‑services lead reported thousands of contacts and efforts such as phone‑bank projects and translation assistance to help families. The report also noted community programs including “RU OK,” Silver Santa, “Coffee with a Cop,” and school and explorer activities.
Racial‑profiling review
As required by state law, the department provided an analysis of traffic‑stop demographics. The report quantified stops by race and gender and did not show an immediately alarming deviation in stop rates. Council members asked for additional breakdowns by location (for example, distinguishing incidents inside behavioral‑health facilities from incidents elsewhere) so the council can better monitor localized trends.
Council response and follow‑up
Council members praised the department’s community engagement and customer‑service focus and asked staff to provide follow‑up details on traffic‑fatality causes and a location‑based breakdown of reported sexual assaults to separate incidents occurring at behavioral‑health facilities from those in the general population. Chief Ellis said staff would provide additional location‑specific data to the council.
