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Police report: mental-health calls up; department received nearly $116,000 grant for tasers
Summary
The Hampshire Police Department reported an increase in mental-health-related calls and discussed a records-management transition affecting counts; the department also received an approximately $116,000 grant to offset taser purchases and described staffing and training timelines for new hires.
Chief presented the Hampshire Police Department's monthly scorecard and answered trustee questions about activity counts. Trustees asked why ticket counts rose relative to stops; the chief explained multiple-ticket incidents and the addition of truck officers contribute to those totals. The chief also said the department is transitioning to a new records-management system, which has created reporting gaps for some months and affected the apparent change in counts.
Trustees and the chief discussed mental-health calls for service; the chief said the department has seen more mental-health-related responses this year compared with last and that many are repeat addresses; staff are coordinating services aimed at reducing repeat calls. The chief noted an almost $116,000 grant to help offset taser purchases and described hiring progress: the department expects additional hires to reach an authorized strength of 16 officers after current recruitment and testing conclude.
The board received the police, streets and financial reports and asked staff to continue reporting with clarified data as records-system migration completes.
