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Police update: Dayton reports 10% rise in calls for service and outlines stratified crime reduction strategy
Summary
In a June 10 work session, Chief Henderson described a roughly 10% increase in citizen-generated calls for service year-to-date, staffing and retention challenges, and a stratified crime reduction approach that combines hotspot analysis, targeted enforcement, and community engagement; commissioners pressed for data on deployment, clearance rates and digital evidence capacity.
City of Dayton Police Chief Henderson and Assistant Chief Johns presented the Department’s June 2026 staffing and crime trends update at a pre-meeting work session, telling commissioners that citizen-generated calls for service increased by about 10% compared with pre-pandemic levels, with nearly 49,500 calls between Jan. 1 and May 31, 2026.
Chief Henderson said patrol officers in the East and West districts spend much of their time responding to calls for service, limiting opportunities for proactive community policing. He noted additional academy graduates will be assigned to patrol and that the Department is reviewing patrol schedules, staffing deployments and data-driven strategies to improve effectiveness and officer wellness.
The Chief outlined a stratified crime reduction strategy that combines crime analysis, hotspot policing, problem-oriented policing, intelligence-led enforcement, community engagement and environmental design improvements. "Violent crime reduction remains a top departmental priority," he said, and highlighted partnerships with academic and regional partners, including a proposed violent crime grant with Ohio State University to analyze micro-hotspots.
Commissioners asked detailed questions. Commissioner Fairchild requested call-for-service data by hour and patrol deployment details to evaluate schedule impacts. Commissioner Shaw asked about homicide clearance rates and the feasibility of a public dashboard; Henderson said historical homicide clearance rates have exceeded 60% but additional data work is required before expanding public reporting. Assistant Chief Johns discussed firearm storage issues and said legislative changes could help reduce crimes involving stolen firearms.
The Department also cited increased digital-evidence workloads and posted two digital forensic detective positions to help investigators review video and phone evidence. The Department said it is still considering gunshot-detection technology and emphasized that such systems are most effective when layered with ALPR and ballistic evidence.
