“There’s probably a story in each one of those numbers,” said commissioner Bruce Symes during an annual report from communications director Angela Murphy.
And indeed, call statistics to the Allen County Emergency Communications Center over the past year are both fascinating and a bit peculiar.
In total, the center received 100,171 calls in 2019, which is slightly fewer than the 101,319 calls received in 2018.
Other statistics included:
— 2,537 arrest warrants were entered or modified, and 672 were cleared or canceled.
— 90,934 screens were performed during traffic stops, including 160 stops during the Click it or Ticket campaign. During those 160 stops, 168 tickets were written.
— 17 articles were reported stolen, which may seem low, but this is due to officers filtering which specific cases to enter, Murphy explained. For example, six guns, 46 license plates, 120 vehicles and 48 persons were reported stolen or missing.
— With regard to first responder calls, 4,631 traffic stops were made, 1,136 alleged criminal actions were reported, 1,066 suspicious persons were called in, and 584 allegedly reckless drivers were reported.
Murphy also noted that even if you are ultimately found innocent, if you have ever been arrested under any circumstance your ID will trigger the computer during a traffic stop as part of what is known as a Triple III.
— A Triple III flag was tripped 3,239 times in 2019.
— Residents also called 9-1-1 on 4,887 occasions.
— 236 fires were called in during 2019, and 1,507 ambulance calls were made.
— Animal control was called 996 times, and 409 “cow out” livestock calls were made. During the week these calls are deferred to their respective cities.
— For reasons no one present was quite sure of, May was the busiest month with 5,405 calls, and the busiest day of the week was Wednesday.
According to Sheriff Bryan Murphy, “for a while” the busiest day was Thursday.
In general, 98.63% of all calls made to the center were answered within 10 seconds.
THE MEETING BEGAN with a report from house and grounds director Ron Holman, who presented the commission with bids for chairs for the Humboldt Senior Center.
