Wyoming police and fire present 2024 annual report highlighting staffing gains, mutual aid and public outreach

The Wyoming Police and Fire departments presented their 2024 annual report at the City Council work session on May 12, 2005, describing staffing progress, mutual-aid activity and new public outreach materials.

City officials said the departments are near full staffing: the police department had one open position and the fire department had “a couple” of openings, and leaders expected full staffing by the end of the summer. Chief (name not specified) told council the departments are now more often providing mutual aid to neighboring jurisdictions than receiving it and reported about 47 instances of mutual aid on the fire side in 2024.

The departments provided council members printed reports and a short video produced with the communications team, which the chief said was intended to make the report’s statistics and accomplishments more accessible to residents who might not read the full document.

Why it matters: Council members and staff framed the report as evidence that recent public safety investments are producing operational improvements. The chief and other speakers said the 2024 millage and COPS grant funding approved by voters are enabling new equipment, training and staffing improvements.

Details from the report and council discussion

- Staffing and recruiting: The chief said the police department had one open position and the fire department “a couple on the fire side” but expected to be fully staffed by late summer. Council members asked about recruitment and how the department planned to remain competitive regionally.

- Mutual aid: The chief described two types of mutual aid — automatic aid under standing agreements and mutual-aid requests — and reported the city had been a net provider of aid more often than a receiver in recent months.

- Wellness and training: Council members asked about a wellness program that allows officers to combine meal breaks to use the department weight room. The chief said participating officers may use their annual boot allowance to purchase exercise shoes, and the department conducts fitness assessments a few times a year as an incentive and team-building measure.

- Public records and FOIA workload: The chief said the police department handled more FOIA requests than other city departments, noting 1,213 FOIA requests recorded in the annual report. Staff described new transcription and redaction tools included in a proposed technology package that would auto‑transcribe body‑worn and in‑car camera footage and help records staff search and redact footage more efficiently.

- Community outreach: The department and communications staff produced short videos to highlight key report findings; the chief said brief videos reach a broader audience than the full written report.

What the council asked for next

Council members requested additional details on staffing and on how time saved on report writing (discussed later in the meeting during a technology presentation) would be allocated. The chief said time saved could allow detectives to work more cases and patrol officers to return to field duties such as traffic enforcement and community engagement.

Ending

Council members thanked public safety leaders for the presentation and the report materials. No formal action was taken on the annual report at the work session; council directed staff to provide follow-up information on staffing and records workload in future materials.