Sugar Land Police present 2024 annual report highlighting technology, training and response metrics

The Sugar Land Police Department on Tuesday presented its 2024 annual report to City Council, emphasizing investments in technology and training, expanded crisis response work and a series of performance snapshots.

Chief Mark Poland, who led the first portion of the presentation, said the department handled more than 77,000 calls for service in 2024 and met its priority‑one response goal—responding to 80% of priority‑one calls within seven minutes—by recording 83% inside that target window. "This is a snapshot," Poland said, adding that department leaders pared the briefing down from a larger slide set to highlight key measures.

The report cited a mix of proactive and reactive work: staff noted roughly 90 weapons-related arrests, about 211 drug arrest cases and an itemized figure described in the presentation as 320 DWI arrests across the department for the year. Chief Poland singled out Officer Washington for enforcement work; Poland said Officer Washington recorded 60 DWI arrests personally for the year and was recognized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

The department detailed technology and unit developments: the Motorola CAD/records/dispatch upgrade is set to go live, the drone unit logged approximately 1,300 flights and the forensic services unit processed more than 5,000 pieces of evidence and assisted numerous outside agencies. Police said their forensic services team is the only accredited forensic services unit in Fort Bend County and reported processing more than 108 phones of digital evidence during the year.

Detectives filed roughly 1,200 cases with the district attorney’s office and the unit reported a clearance rate of 32%, which the presentation compared favorably to a cited national average of about 23%.

The report also highlighted community and prevention programs: the department’s Project Lifesaver program grew to seven clients; the Citizens Police Academy graduated two classes; the department launched a teen academy and an internship program with George Ranch High School that staff said aided investigations and procurement of a facial‑analysis/open‑source tool. The motor unit reported nearly 27,000 traffic stops across the calendar year and accounted for roughly 60% of issued citations in the slides presented.

Chief Pete Laura delivered a second portion of the report that focused on crime suppression, mental health response and staffing. Laura cited a new crime suppression team, expansion of the crisis intervention team (CIT) and the appointment of two full‑time CIT officers to provide sustained coverage. "As we dove into mental health," Laura said, the department worked with local partners including Texana and area hospitals to identify service gaps and improve emergency‑detention, transportation and care coordination.

Policing leaders also discussed recruiting and training: a lateral hiring program produced 18 new hires from 776 applicants and saved an estimated $390,000 compared with recruiting all academy recruits; the department reported 73 days of internal and 57 days of external training for officers during the year, and staff said they are pursuing regional training‑provider status.

No formal council action was required during the presentation. Councilmembers thanked the department for its report and asked follow‑up questions about drug trends, school outreach, response time benchmarks and victim services. The department said it would continue its focus on technology, interagency partnerships and training as it implements its 2025 priorities.