Lufkin police report: 41,631 calls for service last year; retirements and promotion noted

The Lufkin City Council received the Lufkin Police Department's annual report for the previous year, which showed the department answered 41,631 calls for service and that dispatch handled about 112,000 nonemergency calls with roughly 182,000 radio transmissions.

The department reported about 1,400 arrests last year, with drug arrests the most prevalent category at 428. Staffing figures presented included 78 allotted patrol positions; at the time of the report six officers were in field training, three were in the police academy and two patrol vacancies remained. The presenter noted a civil-service examination will be posted in coming weeks to recruit for open positions.

Council also used the meeting to note upcoming retirements: Police Chief David Thomas is scheduled to retire Feb. 27 after 36 years of service to the city and department, and Battalion Chief Liefran Tolley — the department's first female battalion chief — will also retire Feb. 27 after 33 years of service. The council recognized service and thanked the employees for their years of work.

The meeting included a brief promotional ceremony for a corporal who will be assigned as a patrol shift supervisor; staff described the department's promotional process as including physical readiness testing, a written exam and an assessment center with outside assessors.

City staff said year-to-date operating funds remain within acceptable variance and that a recent monthly sales tax report reflected a 4.4% decrease versus the same month a year earlier (reflecting December 2025 receipts), though the year-to-date figure remains up about 1.5 percent.