Centralia Police Chief Chris Locke presented his quarterly activity report to the city council Monday night, saying he plans to provide updates on a regular basis to be more transparent with the community on crime activity in the city.
He’s also created some new categories showing the scope of some issues in the city. He reports the department made 42 controlled substance arrests, was called to 12 overdoses, and administered Narcan seven times. The two new canine units have already had over 50 deployments and have seized meth, cocaine, and fentanyl as well as US currency. The department also responded to 22 shots fired calls, although Locke says not all turned out to be verified gunfire activity.
The calls were among 7,823 calls to the police department during the first quarter, up from 6,215 last year. There were 430 total arrests, down from 474 last year. There were 914 traffic citations up from 532 last year. Traffic crashes decreased from 139 to 108.
The department also reported 40 assault/battery cases up from 26 from last year, 41 aggravated assault and battery down from 45, and 35 domestic violence calls…one more than the first quarter of last year. There were 18 burglaries up three, 43 thefts down two, and 11 stolen vehicles, down one.
