Police report: overall crime steady; Flock camera yields investigative leads

At the March 3 meeting the police chief presented 2025 crime statistics and an update on the department’s Flock license‑plate reader program, telling council overall crime is largely consistent with historical trends but some categories showed variation.

The chief said the department recorded about 1,442 Group A offenses in 2025 (down 42 from 2024) and noted that classification changes and reporting practices affect some apparent spikes—for example, unlawful‑restraint entries contributed to an apparent 650% increase in the category labelled "kidnapping" in the printed report. On Flock, the chief stated the system produced roughly 2,300,000 vehicle reads in the last 30‑day window and the department runs about 200 searches per month; he described multiple investigative outcomes aided by Flock, including vehicle‑theft and burglary rings and locating a homicide suspect via a plate hit. “We have pages and pages of outcomes... It's an invaluable tool,” the chief said.

Councilors asked how protective orders appear in the system and whether Flock has measurably improved clearance rates. The chief explained protective‑order entries provide situational awareness and that case backlogs and the program's short time in service make percentage changes in citywide clearance rates less immediately apparent, though he said investigators are solving cases that previously could not be advanced without such leads.