Eureka Police report: staffing progress, mental‑health diversions up, and inventory of 'military equipment' and camera systems

Eureka Police Chief Stevens presented the department’s 2024 annual report to the City Council on Tuesday, reporting recruitment gains, a high diversion rate by the community safety team for mental‑health calls, and a summary of reportable equipment under California’s military‑equipment reporting requirements.

Staffing and operations: Stevens said patrol and dispatch remained short by three positions but that other units were fully staffed and recruitment had improved. He credited the department’s crisis‑response programs and a community safety engagement team (CSET) for handling large shares of mental‑health contacts and for keeping most cases out of involuntary psychiatric holds. Stevens said CSET referred dozens of people to services and that the overall diversion rate for CSET cases was near 98 percent.

Metrics and investigations: In 2024 officers…