Kentwood police and fire present September reports; police highlight license-plate camera use and planned Axon rollouts

Police and fire chiefs presented September 2025 activity reports to the Kentwood City Commission on Oct. 21, with both departments reporting higher call volumes in some categories and work on technology and training initiatives.

Police Chief Litwin said the department handled just over 1,500 calls for service in September and 13,474 year to date. He reported increases in aggravated and simple assaults and fewer motor-vehicle-theft reports compared with recent years. Litwin described the department's use of Flock license-plate cameras (20 cameras reported), noting roughly 400,000 plates run per month and more than 11,000 "hot-list" hits year to date; he credited that technology with helping to recover 16 stolen vehicles and make 18 arrests year to date.

Litwin also said the department will begin training on the Axon Taser 10 in November and will pilot an AI-assisted report-writing tool beginning next month with a planned broader rollout in the first quarter of next year.

Fire Chief Fleming presented the fire/EMS report showing 456 calls for the month (about a 6% increase). Fleming detailed incident types (12 fires, 316 EMS, 13 hazardous calls, 13 service calls) and said smoke-alarm installs remain elevated (56 last month). He also noted the new training center is operational and has already hosted live-fire and block training exercises.

The commission voted to receive and file both reports by voice vote.