AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
AGENDA ITEM NO. _____
AGENCY: City of Fort Bragg
MEETING DATE: March 11, 2024
DEPARTMENT: Police
PRESENTED BY: Chief Neil Cervenka
EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]
TITLE:
RECEIVE PRESENTATION ON THE 2023 POLICE DEPARTMENT ANNUAL REPORT AND CONSIDER ACCEPTING THE 2023 ANNUAL REPORT AS PRESENTED ISSUE:
Fort Bragg Police Department compiles crime and community statistics throughout the year. Safety of the community and progress of the department can be determined through comparison of statistics year over year. An annual report is a way of disseminating police activities throughout the year to the public in a transparent way. Previously, Council has requested the annual report be presented at a regular meeting.
ANALYSIS:
Despite a staffing shortage for most of 2023, the Fort Bragg Police Department responded to 16,648 calls for service resulting in 4,261 information cases, 1233 reports and 642 arrests. The Property/Evidence unit processed 3,542 items and conducted 1,406 Livescan finger printings.
Police Department staff are required to attend a certain number of hours of training mandated by Peace Officers Standards and Training every year. On top of the standard mandated training, staff completed a combined 800 hours of advanced training in 24 different schools. This ensures the Fort Bragg Police Department is able to provide the best service to our community. Additional specialized training in narcotics was key in the fact the Patrol Division authored and served more warrants in 2023 than in the history of the Department, resulting in the seizure of 17 pounds of illegal narcotics, 12,821 illegal pills, and 20 illegal firearms.
Important statistics:
Rape & Attempts increased by 125%
Robbery decreased 17%
Assaults decreased 28%
Burglary decreased 9%
Theft decreased 22%
Vehicle theft increased 22%
Domestic Violence increased 21%
DUI arrests decreased 51%
Citations increased 47%
Traffic collisions decreased 21%
Most major crimes decreased and proactive police work increased.
Five-year trends:
Theft average is 233 per year, which is trending lower. Robbery average is 11 per year, which is trending average. Domestic Violence average is 11 per year, which is trending higher. Vehicle Theft average is 17 per year, which is trending higher. DUI average is 69 per year, which is trending higher. Assault average is 109 per year, which is trending lower. Rape/Attempt is 7 per year, which is trending higher. Burglary is 37 per year, which is trending lower.
Averaging the last five years of statistics (2019-2023), property crimes are generally trending down. Violent crimes are trending down for general assault, but rape and domestic violence are trending higher.
Code Enforcement:
Code Enforcement received 151 complaints in 2023 and closed 92. Of those 92, 14 were unfounded, 5 resulted in Administrative Hearings, one required an Abatement Warrant and one resulted in a misdemeanor arrest. Generally, complaints are resolved with the initial advisory of the complaint and the property owner resolves the issue themselves.
Care Response Unit (CRU)/Project Right Now (PRN):
CRU greatly broadened their services in 2023. CRU provided services to over 300 community members in 2023. Much of their work revolves around the homeless population, those in mental crisis, and those with substance use disorders.
CRU successfully connected 17 individuals from out of the area back to support systems in the location from which they originated. With county funding, CRU operated the Extreme Weather Shelter, providing over 600 bed nights to 165 unduplicated individuals. CRU also conducted 124 crisis de-escalations, keeping police officers available and providing a better service to those in crisis.
PRN met with nearly every Middle School and High School student in Fort Bragg, offering support with substance use disorders and diverting those at risk. They also trained over 500 coastal residents on the use of Narcan, while distributing 300 doses. Their bilingual status also allowed PRN to provide Narcan training in Spanish, training over 40 people not fluent in English.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact with the presentation of this item.
IMPLEMENTATION/TIMEFRAMES:
Not applicable.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Accept, by motion, the Fort Bragg Police Department 2023 Annual Report.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
1. No action.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Fort Bragg Police Department 2023 Annual Report