Laconia Police report higher call volume but low overdose count, high satisfaction in quarterly survey

Chief Matthew J. Canfield reported to the Laconia Police Commission on Dec. 17 that calls for service increased in November to 2,375 — roughly a 9% rise from the same period the prior year — and outlined the department’s operational outcomes for the month.

"Our calls for service are up. For the month of November, we responded to a total of 2,375 calls for service," Chief Canfield said. He reported 279 criminal offenses investigated with 86 resulting in physical custody arrests, 8 DWI custodial arrests, 19 custody actions for intoxication and a range of disturbance and domestic calls. Year-to-date overdose responses for 2025 stood at 19 with one or two suspected fatal overdoses.

Canfield also summarized quarterly results from the department’s SpiderTech text-message surveys covering July 1–Sept. 30. "The Laconia Police Department sent a total of 5,337 messages," he said, and reported combined very-satisfied and satisfied responses approaching roughly 90% across multiple metrics; very dissatisfied responses were at or below about 1–2% on most measures.

On traffic enforcement, staff reported November totals including 150 parking tickets, 27 total accidents (two with injury), and more than 300 motor-vehicle stops. Commissioners raised concerns after media reports of high-speed evasion. Chief Canfield said the department maintains a strict pursuit policy and that pursuits are generally limited to situations involving felony physical-custody arrests; he noted body-worn and in-car cameras provide investigative leads after incidents.

The statistics were delivered as informational reports; no policy changes or new ordinances were proposed during the meeting. The commission accepted the reports for review.