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Fire chief says new water tender assigned to Station 31; police report rising calls, stolen-vehicle recoveries aided by cameras
Summary
Kern County Fire Chief Appleton reported a new water tender at Station 31 and summarized January incident counts. The Wasco Police Department marked its 10-month anniversary, described monthly and year-to-date call levels, and said camera vendor Flock helped recover stolen vehicles.
Kern County Fire Department Chief Appleton told the Wasco City Council on Feb. 18 that the department has assigned a new water tender to Station 31 and reviewed January response numbers.
Chief Appleton said, "we have a new water tender assigned at, Station 31 in Wasco." He reported that, in January, the department handled "2 2 0 7" total incidents, 15 of which were fires, and 48 were medical or rescue-related calls.
The Wasco Police Department chief marked the police department's 10-month anniversary and said the department has handled "just about 15,000 incidents since we started." The chief told the council the department ran 820 incidents so far this month, including 556 911 calls and about 264 officer-initiated incidents — roughly 38% of total activity, which he said is a bit below the norm. The chief said the department is on track for roughly 17,000 total calls by year-end.
Council members asked about a recent uptick in stolen vehicles. The police chief said the department recorded six stolen-vehicle reports this month and that two of those six were recovered. On overall recoveries, he said the recovery rate is about 40%.
On investigative and recovery tactics, the police chief credited automated license-plate and camera systems, saying, "Flock has been a game changer." He described how officers combine camera hits and directional intercepts to locate vehicles and said the department typically establishes perimeters and waits for suspects to exit off-road areas rather than chasing through orchards.
The police chief also said he and Chief Appleton had met with regional management from Hall Ambulance and expected Hall to try to attend future council meetings or provide updates every other month.
Council members did not take action on the reports; they were received as informational items.
