TO: City Council DATE: April 14, 2025 DEPARTMENT: Police Department
PREPARED BY: Neil Cervenka, Police Chief
PRESENTER: Neil Cervenka, Police Chief
AGENDA TITLE: 2024 Police Department Annual Report
RECOMMENDATION
Receive report.
BACKGROUND
Annual report on 2024 crime statistics and police department activities.
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Officers handled over 15,000 calls for service resulting in 1,166 reports, 514 arrests, 315 traffic citations, and seized 8.7 pounds of illegal drugs, and 26 firearms. Of the 106 vehicle collisions, eight were as the result of DUI. Working staff was approximately 75% throughout 2024 due to vacancies and injuries. This is up from 2023, when we were operating at 60% working staff.
In general, crime decreased locally with a notable exception in Domestic Violence, which increased by 53%. Domestic Violence reports have been increasing annually over the past five years. In 2024, reports of Domestic Violence were over four times greater than in 2020 in Fort Bragg. There may be several factors impacting this. One may be that it is known during the pandemic, victims of domestic violence were less likely to report the abuse due to the fact they were unable to get away to report it. Another factor is increased training by officers has resulted in Domestic Violence being recognized when on a different call for service.
While assaults were higher this year, they are still at the second lowest amount in the last five years. Thefts, robberies, and burglaries are all continuing their downward trend and 2024 saw the lowest reports of these crimes in the past five years. When analyzing the individual robbery reports, it was noted none of them included the use of the weapon and half were shopliftings in which the suspect used physical force to escape the store owner, resulting in the charge of robbery.
Front office staff processed 1,166 reports, 2,718 items of property and conducted 1,219 Livescan fingerprints. The number of Livescans is down from last year due to the Livescan machine being out of operation for over a month. They also handled all the sex & arson registrants, requests for documents from other agencies, insurance companies, and PRA’s.
Our Social Media team continues to connect with the community, achieving 1.3 million Facebook views of our posts with nearly 52,000 content interactions.
The Care Response Unit provided 1,350 services with a spike in the fourth quarter when the third Social Services Liaison was hired. In addition, they assisted 24 people into rehabilitation for drugs or alcohol. The Extreme Weather Shelter (EWS) was operated by CRU with funds from Mendocino County through the California Homeless Housing, Assitance and Prevention (HHAP) grant. The EWS was open 59 nights, with 825 hotel rooms, housing 151 unique individuals.
The Care Response Unit also facilitated the Project Right Now (PRN) grant to combat youth opioid use. From this, the Fentanyl Task Force was formed bringing community members with diverse backgrounds together to develop solutions. PRN provided training to many organizations and business, distributing 822 units of Narcan.
One police officer started in February 2024, one Police Recruit was hired in September, and a CSO was promoted to Police Officer in December. A third Social Services Liaison was hired in July. One police officer lateraled to Fish & Wildlife in January after applying to them in spring of 2022. Finally, an officer retired after 19 years of faithful service to Fort Bragg.
Fort Bragg Police Department staff participated in many community events throughout the year, the largest of which was National Night Out in August, which drew in hundreds of community members.
FISCAL IMPACT/FUNDING SOURCE
None.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
Not applicable.
STRATEGIC PLAN CONSISTENCY
Goal 7A. Promote the City and highlight key accomplishments.
Goal 7B. Promote the image of Fort Bragg.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
None at this time.
COUNCIL REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Receive report.
ALERNATIVES:
Not applicable.
ATTACHMENTS:
2024 Fort Bragg Police Department Annual Report
NOTIFICATION:
None Applicable
AGENDA ITEM NO. 8B
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT