DeSoto police: reported crimes down 8.4% year‑to‑date; ShotSpotter, gunshot reporting and neighborhood watch get push

Police Chief Joe Costa told the DeSoto City Council on April 14 that the department’s crime report for January through March 2025 showed 392 incidents so far this year, down from 422 in the same period in 2024. “So we’ve gone down, 8.4%,” Costa said during the quarterly presentation.

The chief said three of the city’s four policing districts showed declines; District 4 was the only district with an increase, up by about 14 incidents. Costa walked council members through the department’s process for documenting gunshot calls, noting that all calls for service are recorded and that calls may later be ruled fireworks or vehicle backfires if investigators find no evidence of gunfire. He also described how ShotSpotter — the city’s acoustic gunshot…