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Bulverde police report 1,153 calls in July; chief flags 'jugging' pattern
Summary
The Bulverde Police Department told the City Council it responded to 1,153 calls for service in July, made 12 arrests and investigated 16 crashes; the chief described a regional 'jugging' bank-crime pattern and answered council questions about speed citations and neighborhood camera placement.
Bulverde police presented their July activity report and answered council questions about recent crime patterns and enforcement strategies.
The police chief said the department logged 1,153 calls for service in July, made 12 arrests and investigated 16 crashes. He told council the department recorded average speed-citation overages on several roads and that the department would provide additional data if requested. "I'll be glad to answer any questions," the chief said during the report.
Council members asked whether any emerging trends required new resources; the chief pointed to a transient "jugging" scheme—where groups watch customers leaving banks and follow them—that has affected several Texas communities and briefly hit local banks. "They just caught like 6 of them down in Corpus Christi over last weekend," the chief said, and reported the suspects were largely from out of town.
Councilmembers also raised recurring calls for vacation house checks in Windmill Ranch and clarified how residents can request officers to check on unoccupied homes. On camera installations, the chief said two cameras had been put in the park area even though only one was requested; he explained the city had asked for a camera at the park entrance to capture license plates, but staff will follow up with the vendor (Flock) about an unexpected second camera.
The chief described the department's current capacity and said officers provided rapid response in a recent hit-and-run, with a resident reporting an officer arrived within about 90 seconds and investigators obtaining video and a plate that led to identification of a suspect. "They were extremely pleased with the service they got," the chief said.
Councilmembers asked staff to provide additional numeric breakdowns from the records management system (for example, counts of specific types of stops), which the chief said he could obtain. The department did not request new staffing during this update.
Next steps: council asked staff to follow up on specific data requests (speed and stop statistics) and to check why an extra camera was installed in the park floodplain area.
