The number of calls for Jefferson police and the number of criminal cases in Jefferson has increased enough to warrant adding a patrol officer, according to Jefferson police chief Mark Clouse. Clouse presented the need to the Jefferson city council Tuesday evening. The department currently has five patrol officers, chief Clouse, and captain Heath Enns.
The city cut one patrol officer position and a fulltime secretary position in 2003, Clouse said. In 2002, there were 2,608 calls for service. In 2016, to date there have been 3,785 calls for service.
More worrisome is an increase in the number of criminal charges. In 2003, JPD officers filed 333 criminal charges; 567 criminal charges were filed in 2015 and Clouse said the 2016 total will be higher.
Clouse did not break out the criminal charges or suggest why they have increased.
Criminal charges take officers away from patrol as they complete investigations and necessary reports and appear in court. “Case work is extremely time consuming. That’s what takes your officer off the street,” Clouse said. “We’ve been increasingly busy with criminal charges.”
That makes their work reactive rather than proactive, “the most important thing for me,” Clouse said.
Proactive police work puts patrol officers on the street, being seen, and stopping crimes before they occur. “If you’re not doing that, you’re reacting. When you react to something, there you are with the criminal side of things, involved in investigations, and that takes you away from the proactive side.”
“I want to get the department moving back toward the proactive side. We owe the citizens that,” Clouse said.
Throughout the presentation, he compared JPD numbers to those of the Greene County sheriff’s office (SO). Population in Greene County is evenly split between the city of Jefferson and the rest of the county (to include the smaller county towns, as they contract with the SO for law enforcement services). The SO numbers have remained fairly stable in the last four years at about 2,100 calls for service. The JPD provides services the SO does not; Clouse used funeral escorts and taking care of bats in houses as an example. `
The SO filed 227 criminal charges in 2015.
Clouse provided other comparisons. The national average for police staffing in cities with population less than 50,000 is one officer per 500 residents (not including administrative assistants or command staff). In 2016, the JPD has one officer per 900 residents. To reach the national average, the JPD would need nine patrol officers.
The ratio of residents to patrol officers in Carroll is 667:1 and in Perry the ratio is 737:1.
Clouse noted that the number of residents is only part of the total, as officers also have calls for service and charges generated by people who are in town on errands or to visit. He named Wild Rose Casino and Hy-Vee as sources of calls from or because of non-residents. “You can’t count them as citizens, but you’re servicing those people with any car accidents, thefts that may occur, drinking and driving. You’re serving that number of people in the community as well,” he said.
The cost of an additional entry level patrol officer is about $43,000 annually for wages and equipment, with another $16-$20,000 for benefits. Clouse said it generally takes six months to get a new officer fully functioning. If the council approves a new position in the 2017-18 budget year (starts July 1), the effect would not be realized until early 2018.
“I think it’s time to move in that direction…. I think the numbers strongly suggest we need a little help,” Clouse said. “The additional officer could take a load off the officers that are there and get us back to proactive law enforcement. There’s where we need to be.”
