Richardson police report 2024: overall crime down sharply; staffing, training and new technology highlighted

Chief Jeff Tittle presented the Richardson Police Department's 2024 annual review at the Richardson City Council meeting, reporting that violent crime fell about 4% in 2024 and property crime dropped about 16%, for an overall decline the department quantified as 15.4% compared with the prior year.

Tittle told the council the department would keep focusing on staffing, training and data-driven deployments. "While we may be shorthanded, we are not desperate," he said, summarizing the department's recruiting outlook and training plans.

The presentation gave a detailed accounting of personnel and operations. The department said sworn staffing stood at 169 officers after a pending retirement (down four from the department's authorized level of 173). The communications center reported 19 dispatchers in the field of 25 allocated positions; the department said several candidates remained in background checks or training. Tittle said about 20 recruits or trainees were in the pipeline.

On crime trends, the department reported the largest reductions in property crimes, including a 45% reduction in burglaries of habitation compared with earlier years, and continued declines in motor-vehicle theft and theft-from-vehicles. The chief said 50% of vehicles with firearms taken in thefts were left unlocked; 40 firearms were reported taken from vehicles in 2024. Of 59 vehicle pursuits last year, the department said 31% began with an automated license-plate-reader hit and 42% of pursuits involved stolen vehicles.

Tittle outlined deployment changes the department made to match workload. The department converted a bailiff supervisor position to a patrol sergeant and added a small "power shift" of one sergeant and four officers on 8-hour assignments (2 p.m. to 10 p.m.) to cover the afternoon/evening call peak at about 4 p.m.

On officer safety and training, the department reported 24 on-the-job injuries in 2024, all sworn personnel, a 29% reduction from 2023. Tittle said the highest causes of injury were routine duties and training (including defensive tactics and foot pursuits) and noted plans to reduce hands-on training intensity where appropriate to lower injury risk.

Evidence and forensics work drew explicit mention: crime-scene technicians processed 518 scenes in 2024 and the property room inventory was about 85,000 items, down from more than 100,000 after an earlier cleanup. The department described recent equipment purchases and pilots: a Crimelight tool that helped lift a print from an unspent shell casing, a loaner ballistics system under evaluation, and a pilot of Axon's automation tools that include transcription/draft features and a module called Fusus for integrated camera feeds.

Tittle also described technology and program investments under consideration: a move from TASER 7 to TASER 10 devices, continued rollout of automated license-plate readers and camera integrations, virtual-reality micro-training for officers, and planning work on a real-time crime center to aggregate feeds and support officers en route to calls. He raised the possibility of drone-as-first-responder capability for future consideration.

The department highlighted community-focused programs and partnerships. It credited community crime watches, business crime-watch participation near 1,000 organizations, and school and youth outreach for helping reduce crime. The department reported 241 crisis interventions in 2024, 424 follow-up calls, 50 home visits and 728 phone calls by Methodist Richardson partners as part of follow-up outreach. Tittle said National Night Out returned Richardson to first place nationwide for cities in the 100,000'to'300,000 population range.

Council members praised the department's results and programs during questions. Councilman Curtis Dorian called the department "the best police department in the country" in his remarks. Council members also discussed staffing strategies and how technology can create efficiencies without fully replacing officers.

Tittle closed by framing policing as a mix of enforcement, coaching and community engagement and said the department would continue to pursue crime-reduction, prevention and community programs while evaluating new technologies and training approaches.

The council did not take formal action on the briefing; the presentation was provided for review and comment.