Sheriff Peter on Monday briefed the San Juan County Council on 2024 public‑safety statistics and said the department handled nearly 20,000 total dispatch calls last year but recorded fewer arrests and traffic stops than in 2023.

The sheriff reported that combined law, EMS and fire dispatch calls totaled 19,782 in 2024, of which 8,319 were law‑related calls. The department logged 298 arrests, 48 DUI arrests and 1,045 traffic stops for the county in 2024. The sheriff noted 591 calls logged as mental‑health incidents; 77 of those required a law‑enforcement response. He also reported 22 overdose calls and said there were no confirmed overdose deaths among those incidents.

Why this matters: sheriff’s staff said the decline in proactive enforcement and arrested counts does not necessarily indicate less crime. “They’re not down because there’s less impaired drivers,” the sheriff said, explaining that short staffing has shifted deputies’ time toward response and casework, reducing opportunities for proactive stops, serving warrants or other enforcement activity.

Island breakdowns: the sheriff gave island‑specific totals: San Juan Island accounted for the largest share of calls and bookings, Orcas logged 2,547 law calls and 12 DUIs, Lopez reported 1,352 total calls and three DUIs; town counts included 95 arrests and 9 DUIs for Friday Harbor. The sheriff added that the department booked 205 people into the holding facility during the year.

Council members asked about mental‑health demand and Narcan availability. Fuller noted the 591 dispatches tagged as mental health and asked whether Narcan deployments were rising; the sheriff said Narcan use by deputies appeared lower in 2024 than in 2023 and that he works with county opioid settlement efforts to acquire Narcan for responders.

Discussion vs. action: no formal policy or budget action was taken. Council members asked for multi‑year trend data and more detailed comparisons to earlier years when the sheriff returns with an updated report.

Ending: the sheriff said two recruits are in the academy and one is scheduled to begin within weeks; he said additional staffing could restore some proactive enforcement activity next year.