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Public safety departments report modest rise in calls; staffing, training and equipment updates outlined
Summary
At the Dec. 1, 2025 Board of Public Safety meeting, police and fire leaders reported a roughly 8% year-to-date rise in calls (about 80,000 calls projected), described staffing gains and training activity, and detailed equipment and generator upgrades planned for 2026.
Unidentified Speaker 3 (an unnamed police presenter) told the Board of Public Safety that calls for service are up "just a little bit above 8%" year-to-date and that the department was "somewhere close to 80,000 right now," based on data taken Dec. 1.
The report said 2025 crime tallies show some category increases but "no statistical giant rise anywhere that we're concerned about," and noted juvenile referrals were identical to last year. Hate-crime reporting for the period is expected in January, the presenter said.
Training hours were highlighted as a line item: the department recorded 306 training hours for the month, with 70 officers completing firearms qualifications and additional training in towing regulations, remotely piloted aerial vehicles, defensive tactics, civil disturbance response and understanding use-of-force. "A lot of people in training all year long," the presenter said, explaining some month-to-month variation.
Unidentified Speaker 4 (an unnamed staff presenter) gave a staffing update: "We have 93 officers out of 105 budgeted," and said two lateral hires are expected to start Jan. 5, ten lateral candidates are in background checks, and five officers recently graduated the academy and will begin field training in January. The speaker noted one graduate was the honor graduate and another received a peer-selected Herman Freeman integrity award.
The presenters also reviewed non-patrol programs. Social workers reported 135 referrals and 445 contacts for the month, and described case-level assistance including securing housing for a client, reconnecting elderly clients with family and helping a teen with budgeting after his first job. The MIH program was credited with persuading a patient to self-admit for lifesaving surgery and helping another transition to long-term care.
On equipment and resilience, presenters described routine replacement-cycle purchases for officer equipment, planned radio replacements because current units will no longer be supported, and completion of generator conversion at three remaining stations from natural gas to diesel "so in the event of a large disaster, the diesel can be trucked in" to keep systems running. The fire presenter said pumpers and aerial-apparatus demos were used this year to give crews input on purchase decisions and provide training.
Unidentified Speaker 3 and Unidentified Speaker 4 also mentioned a law-enforcement operation in support of the sheriff’s department: an ARV deployment and a search-warrant service on Woodyard Road related to an individual manufacturing machine guns.
Board members did not request separate discussion on the monthly reports, and presenters said they will continue to monitor trends and report back at the start of the year.
