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Junction City police review 2024 staffing, training and evidence-room overhaul
Summary
Police Chief Mark Waddell reported staffing gains, extensive training and the creation of a new evidence room; the department said it disposed of nearly 2,000 outdated property items and reported recruitment and mental-health call increases.
Chief Mark Waddell reported to the council on the Junction City Police Department’s work in 2024 and plans for 2025, highlighting recruitment, training, facilities and rising calls involving mental health.
Waddell said the department took the oath of a new chief in August and hired seven new employees during 2024, including an administrative assistant, a dispatcher and additional officers. He described efforts to improve the department’s facility — completion of a façade on an annex, installation of lockers, commissioning a facilities master plan and a new, secured evidence room — and said staff cleaned and organized equipment and evidence.
Waddell told the council the department legally disposed of almost 2,000 pieces of outdated evidence and property after inventorying items and following retention and disposal laws. The department also purchased three mobile data terminals (with more planned as funding allows), began replacing older portable radios and planned technology upgrades. He said the department added in-house instructors for firearms, driving and other topics.
On training, Waddell said most officers completed a 40-hour crisis-intervention training and received advanced de-escalation instruction. The department also adopted and began training in a RAP restraint system and updated a dispatcher training manual and sergeant field-training program.
Waddell shared statistics for 2024 related to calls, arrests and traffic enforcement: he reported 246 arrests (with a plurality related to property crimes), about 1,002 traffic stops and 368 citations issued. He said recruitment and retention remain challenges and that the department is working with regional partners for narcotics-investigation training and to navigate new state diversion and deflection programs. He also said mental-health related calls have increased and that the department has offered office space and parking to encourage county resources to locate locally.
On goals for 2025, Waddell listed enhanced community policing and neighborhood patrols, new technology integrations, officer wellness and mental-health support programs, and continued focus on crime prevention and domestic-violence response.
