Salem Police Chief Kyle Ambuehl has released the department’s report for 2022. It clearly points to a problem with drug overdoses. 34 overdose calls were received along with four deaths.
Ambuehl says getting drugs off the streets is one of their major goals for the new year.
“Fentanyl has become a real issue and individuals using. Narcan is out there I think sometimes they feel safe when they are out there but as we see you can’t always use it in time or it’s not always going to get to them in time.”
Ambuehl is also tracking the increasing number of mental health calls, which totaled 171 last year. He says they are among the department’s most challenging because of the lack of local resources to deal with the issues. Ambuehl notes the state is trying to help.
“It’s going to be a slow process. I think this is a statewide thing. I think everyone in this region is dealing with the same problems. I don’t know how it’s going to work but we want to continue to concentrate and work on and try to make it better.”
Ambuehl is also concerned about the jump in criminal sexual assault and abuse cases. Criminal sexual assault cases jumped from four to 12 and criminal sexual abuse cases from two to four cases last year. He doesn’t know the answer to what is causing the rise.
The department handled a total of 17,083 incidents in 2022, with the 911 dispatch center handling another 3,761 fire and EMS incidents. Ambuehl commends the telecommunicators on working extremely hard. The department had a total of 476 arrests and issued 1,658 citations.
The department handled 30 burglary and 10 residential burglary cases along with 21 burglaries to motor vehicle incidents The numbers are similar to last year. Felony theft cases dropped in half to 7, misdemeanor thefts dropped 59 cases to 115, while retail thefts were up 24 cases to 93.
There were 312 traffic crashes during the year, an increase of 11. There were seven DUI arrests.
The city went another year without a homicide.
