At the commission meeting officials reviewed the department's monthly activity reports and operational highlights. For October the department responded to 2,574 calls for service (an increase of roughly 10%), conducted 214 park walk‑and‑talks, completed 786 extra patrol requests and held 29 community policing events. Criminal investigations numbered 274 for the month, with 151 cleared by arrest and 85 physical custody arrests; 17 people were taken into custody for intoxication.

The Criminal Investigations Unit reported 12 new cases, 14 follow‑ups, one felony arrest or indictment, one felony charge, one misdemeanor arrest, seven misdemeanor charges and five search warrants executed. CIU also reported substantial investigative work including cell phone extractions, polygraph use, extensive training hours, and ongoing collaboration with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force.

Chief Canfield said the department is allotted 45 sworn positions (excluding any grant positions) and currently has 41 officers filling those slots; recruitment activity and prospective candidates were described as promising. Officer Ashley Briggs recently completed field training officer (FTO) certification and will begin training recruits. Two department canines completed training in North Carolina and have returned following veterinary checks.

On public‑health and community feedback, the chief reported 18 drug overdoses year to date and one overdose death — a substantial decline from several years earlier — and noted a trend from heroin/fentanyl toward methamphetamine. The SpiderTech outreach survey sent an estimated 168 texts with a 21.4% completion rate; roughly 95% of returned surveys rated police services positively, and one dispatcher was highlighted in the results.

Traffic enforcement figures for October included 21 parking tickets, 42 motor vehicle accidents (six with injury), 354 traffic stops, 13 motor vehicle summonses and 317 written warnings. The chief said driver distraction (cell‑phone use and hands‑free violations) remains a leading cause of crashes.

Budget planning for the next year is underway: the department reported being slightly over in current calculations but expects one‑time expenses and contractually required salary increases (COLAs) to account for much of the variance; otherwise line items are planned to be level funded at the city manager's request. Community programming noted included a planned citizen police academy in January in partnership with the Taylor Home and proposed 'chief coffee' community meetings.

The chief also noted various community events (Woodland Heights Thanksgiving dinner, retiree luncheon on Dec. 17) and administrative changes to the city's accounting system that will change the packet expenditure format starting next month.