At a recent City Council meeting, College Station police and fire departments shared data collected over the past year. Overall, we were able to reduce response times in both departments, despite increased demand in some cases.
In 2023, the University Station Police Department received 92,100 calls, an increase of 6,970 calls from 2022, but a decrease of 3,202 calls compared to 2021. Of the more than 92,000 calls, there were three for murder, 84 for sexual assault, eight for robbery, 14 for aggravated robbery, and 97 for aggravated robbery. According to the city, there were 129 cases of aggravated assault, 129 cases of home invasion, 449 cases of vehicle robbery, and 105 cases of firearm theft.
University Police Chief Billy Couch told the City Council that his department is seeing an increase in high-priority calls. Of the over 92,000 calls, 5,731 were considered high priority.
“Our most important calls for service, the high priority calls, typically result in a Code 3 response with lights and sirens. These are going to be high impact calls,” Couch said. I did. “Such inquiries are on the rise.… [There were] The number of inquiries per year is 92,100, which shows an increase. That's a good number of calls, but some of the major categories were down, so that's good. ”
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Couch said crimes such as sexual assault, burglary and burglary are down, but aggravated assault is up.
“Our more extreme attacks are over. We have no answers today, but it's a crime that comes and goes,” he said. “Sometimes there are a few such incidents in a year, sometimes a few, but this year we've had a number of serious aggravated assaults in our neighborhoods.”
Although call volume increased by about 7,000 calls in 2023, Couch said the department was able to improve response times overall, regardless of priority. According to police data, response times to Priority 1 calls decreased by nearly 30 seconds compared to 2022, from 6 minutes and 24 seconds to a flat rate of 6 minutes.
“Response times are on target,” he said. “While this may seem like a big deal, it is a good response for officers who respond to calls and respond to calls. Priority 2 calls, which are non-emergency, are still a little slower to improve.”
Catalytic converter thefts decreased by 89% in 2023, with approximately 34 reported cases compared to 318 in 2022. According to crime data, unauthorized use of vehicles also fell, although not so sharply, from 161 to 100 cases.
Couch said catalytic converter thefts spiked locally in 2022, but have since declined thanks to dozens of local arrests and a new state law.
“We tackled this crime aggressively because not only was this a big problem, but it affected the supply chain so that that homeowner or that resident could get that car repaired. “It caused huge delays,” he said. “At the end [2022]Congress passed new laws that made it very difficult for salvage yards to buy these catalytic converters, and I think that, coupled with local enforcement, really helped reduce these. ”
Couch said car thefts, caused by residents leaving their keys in unlocked cars, have decreased slightly but are still high.
“The robbers try the door handles, get inside the car and try to start the car first. If the key fob is in the car, they get in the car and drive off,” Couch said. “We will continue to work on this issue. … We have recovered the majority of the stolen vehicles on-site.”
Couch said that since 2018, all police officers in the state have been required to undergo 40 hours of training to respond to mental health crises. Some officers are part of crisis intervention teams, which are specially trained to handle difficult calls.
“What it has done is created a culture of how to properly deal with mental health,” he says. “The vast majority of mental health consumer calls are now handled as routine.… [Officers] They're going to take care of our really problematic calls, our sensitive calls, things that are going to be more difficult. ”
Fire Chief Richard Mann also presented data to council, saying the number of calls decreased slightly from 2022 to 2023, but the overall number of calls increased significantly since 2012.
“Over the past year, we have responded to just under 12,000 requests for assistance, 11,896 of which were received,” Mann said. “Last year we saw a slight decrease of about 3.7%. I do not attribute this decrease to a decrease in need in our community. Most of it is due to a change in our relationship with the City of Bryan. I think it’s something.”
Since the beginning of 2023, the College Station Fire Department has reduced the amount of aid it provides to Brian due to changes in each department's response procedures. Mann said departments are now providing mutual aid rather than automatic aid.
“We made a dispatch change in August, and what you can see here is an actual night of that,” he said while presenting a graph to Congress showing the decline in response to Brian. . “What we've seen is a significant reduction in our reliance on the College Station Fire Department to provide calls to the City of Bryan.”
But Mann said the departments still work closely together when needed, and the College Station department often arrives at the scene of a fire when assistance is not needed, so this change will make it more effective. It was said that it was carried out.
“So we worked together and were able to get this back to where it is now,” he said. “Here's a comparison of the assistance we provide to the city of Bryan and the assistance received from the Bryan Fire Department. … We found there was a gap between the assistance given and the assistance received.
“We still rely on each other for special events, and we should. That's why we work so well together. We have achieved a mutually beneficial and fair relationship.”
Mann said the addition of a fifth full-time ambulance in 2023 has significantly reduced ambulance response times.
“We see a dramatic increase in ambulance availability just by adding one full-time ambulance,” he said. “We fell well below our benchmarks and thresholds. That additional resource [the ambulance]Through the efforts of the City Council and City Manager, we were able to make significant changes and resolve the EMS resource capacity issue. ”
The full 50-minute presentations from both departments are available on the College Station City Council website.
