Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Police chief reports rising calls, retail-theft recovery and staffing gains
Summary
Police Chief White told council the department handled just over 31,000 calls for service last year, is on pace to exceed that number this year, recovered more than $40,000 in stolen merchandise in a recent operation, and has added officers and dispatch personnel as hiring and training continue.
Police Chief White briefed the Bowling Green City Council on trends in calls for service, staffing and technology upgrades, telling members the department handled just over 31,000 calls last year and is on pace to exceed that level this year with more than 13,000 calls so far.
“We handled just a little over 31,000 calls for service, which we continue to increase the amount of calls for service every year. We are on pace this year to do that. We're over 13,000 calls for service so far this year,” Chief White said, outlining a steady increase tied in part to the academic calendar.
White described expanded community-oriented policing activity — officers making about 700 self-initiated community contacts last year — and said the department assigned an investigator to the Wood County retail-theft task force. He reported a recent search-warrant operation recovered more than $40,000 worth of stolen merchandise.
The chief also reported personnel changes: three newly hired officers completed field training and are serving on patrol (they remain in probationary status), and the department extended two conditional offers that could bring two more officers on board in August (one to attend the academy, one to enter road patrol). The communications center added a dispatcher to respond to increased call volume.
On records and technology, White said the department completed a transition to a countywide cloud-based records-management and computer-aided dispatch system, paid for through ARPA funds provided by the county commissioners. “The benefits for information sharing, interoperability are huge for us,” White said, while also noting the transition and redaction obligations for public video requests have increased records workload.
White highlighted training investments — the department logged roughly 5,000 hours of training so far this year, and nine of 12 command staff have completed a Public Safety Leadership Academy program — and gave a brief update on the police facility renovation schedule, saying the department expects to move into an East Court station in late 2027.
Municipal Administrator Tredder introduced Chief White and answered council procedural questions; no formal action or funding requests were advanced during the briefing.
