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Last updated on Monday, February 13, 2017
(BLOOMINGTON) - Mayor John Hamilton introduced Police Chief Mike Diekhoff and Fire Chief Jason Moore to present their first joint Annual Public Safety Report Thursday at Police headquarters. The chiefs each shared data sets related to their respective departments and described accomplishments and challenges in 2016.
Mayor Hamilton said, "I am exceedingly proud of our fire and police departments and their dedication to public service. I am also confident that the more our residents know about these public servants, and the work we do, the more our collective pride will grow."
The presentation is available in its entirety on Facebook at https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1328659287156095&id=120400677981968&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FoVvNZeqTQ8&_rdr
Mayor John Hamilton says he hopes it will become an annual tradition that will increase transparency between the city and its residents. Both departments highlighted successes and challenges they faced in 2016.
Public meetings will take place Feb. 20, March 1 and March 6 to discuss the report.
The police department is also seeking accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. Only 19 agencies in Indiana are accredited under CALEA. They hope to have a mock evaluation done in June and then gain full accreditation in 2018.
The department responded to 51,000 calls and more than 66,000 calls were made to 911 last year. Calls to other city emergency lines totaled nearly 61,000, and Monroe County dispatch received nearly 37,000 calls.
Bloomington Fire Deparment received almost 3,900 calls last year, a 2.8-percent increase from 2015.
The Bloomington Police Department says violent crimes made up only 1 percent of the calls it responded to last year, but that's an increase from 2015.
Police Chief Mike Diekhoff says the jump is tied to substance abuse. He says about 35 percent of them were home invasion robberies. In 65 percent of those robberies the victims admitted to some sort of drug use or drug dealing.
The department is now focusing more resources on drug investigations trying to connect people to mental health and addiction services.
The number of aggravated assaults rose sharply in 2016, jumping from 204 to 256.
The number of hate crimes remained the same between 2015 and 2016 at 9. This is based on the definition of hate crime provided by the FBI Uniform Crime report.
Bloomington officers are also responding to overdoses on an almost daily basis.
Officers responded to so many overdoses last year it ran out of its supply of naloxone, an overdose antidote that can revive people.
Bloomington Fire Chief Jason Moore adds he's looking at ways to improve his department's overdose response.
Police are installing cameras purchased as part of a pilot program aimed at increasing downtown safety.
The city announced the program last summer, after police saw an increase in reports of aggressive panhandling and crime downtown. One has been installed at Seminary Park.
The police department also increased patrols downtown to help deter crime.
Almost half of the Bloomington Fire Department's false alarm calls come from Indiana University. Officials say, 43 percent of the false alarm calls originate at Indiana University. That number is down from 2015 due to IU taking an aggressive stance and educating students about the consequences of pulling alarms. In 2017 they had only four calls.
Chief Jason Moore says one of his main goals for 2017 is increasing the number of smoke alarms in homes. He says 88 percent of Bloomington residents who've died in fires over the past ten years didn't have working alarms.
Only two people died in fires last year.
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