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Police report: call volume drop tied to reporting changes; staffing shifts include recent hires and lateral candidates
Summary
Police said routine changes to logging reduced reported call volume by roughly 3,000 incidents compared with prior reporting, and discussed recent hires, two departures and several lateral candidates under consideration.
Department leadership told the committee the apparent decline in reported call volume compared with 2023 stems largely from a documentation change that moved many after‑hours building checks into dispatch logs rather than individual incident reports.
"There's about 3,000 call difference, and that has a lot to do with it," Police Chief (title given in meeting transcript) said, describing how building checks are now logged by dispatch rather than recorded as separate reports.
The chief also reviewed staffing changes: one new officer recently graduated from the academy and entered field training, two officers left for the city of Oregon, and the department currently has three lateral candidates under consideration to fill vacancies. A new dispatcher started today (from the city of Findlay) and the department has extended an offer to another dispatcher, which the chief said would help restore staffing in dispatch.
Committee members asked about recruitment and training; the department noted recruitment efforts include job fairs and outreach to high schools and colleges, and said more people are entering academies compared with the pandemic period.
No formal committee action was taken on staffing or documentation changes; the discussion was informational and the department said it will circulate the annual report when it is published so members can review the data in more detail.
