Highland police were busier with some calls than with others. Here’s their annual report

While violent crime is down in Highland, a significant increase in traffic crashes is making more work for police and other first responders.

Highland Police Chief Carole Presson presented her annual report as public safety director to the city council last month, detailing the numbers on Highland’s public safety services.

Chief among them: Highland police handled approximately 182 investigations in 2023, a 16% drop from 2022. Violent crime dropped nearly 15% from 2022 to 2023. Sex offenses, orders of protection and assault stayed about the same, with about a 50% increase in battery offset by a significant drop in domestic violence.

However, domestic battery and disturbance charges still comprise the majority of Highland’s violent crime, with 69 incidents in 2023.

On the other hand, traffic crashes rose a significant 44% from 2019 to 2023. Property damage crashes rose from 121 to 157; injury accidents more than doubled from 21 to 43; and hit-and-run accidents numbered 18 over 2022’s 9. However, it is worth noting that 2022 was unusually low; over the last several years, there are usually 16-19 hit and run accidents in Highland.

Still, there wasn’t a specific reason cited for why traffic crashes have risen even accounting for the drop in all activity during the pandemic. “Analysis is currently being conducted to identify areas needing additional enforcement to reduce these numbers for 2024,” the report says.

Police already write more citations in 2023 than 2022: traffic alone rose from 176 to 211, and city ordinance citations rose from 40 to 142. Overall, citations issued in 2023 were 54% higher than 2022, at least in part due to the increased traffic crashes, according to the report.

Property crimes increased by 14%, driven in part by theft. While burglaries dropped by nearly half and property damage stayed about the same, thefts increased by 37% from 108 incidents to 148.

Highland Police dealt with a number of notable cases this year, according to the report. The detectives investigated the death of an infant, which ended with the child’s father charged with two counts of first-degree murder. They also investigated a contractor who had been hired to complete renovations under allegedly fraudulent circumstances, absconding with $340,000.

In addition, three vehicles were stolen from a local business and investigators worked with the Metro-East Auto Theft Task Force to recover them.

As for “community service” calls, Highland police activity rose almost 14%. Business checks, foot patrols, patrol requests, traffic stops and vacation checks all saw increases under “community services,” which itself increased by 34% over 2022.

Presson wrote that 2023 was a big year for community engagement as well as the changes in the department. “As we move in 2024, we hope for a year full of community and prosperity,” she said. “We hope you all feel confident that Highland Public Safety is committed to serving and protecting you. We continue to take pride in the work we do and hope you all have a prosperous year.”

One of the department’s major changes came in 2022, when 911 calls were officially switched to the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and two of the city’s dispatchers were converted to civilian police aides. Of the other three, two were transferred to the sheriff’s department and one transferred to Highland City Hall. 2023 was therefore the first full year of the new system, with the police aides managing walk-in complaints and non-emergency telephone calls, among other tasks.

It was also the first full year for the K-9 program. Hondo, a 3-year-old German shepherd, is the city’s first K-9, trained in narcotics detection, tracking, searches, suspect apprehension and more. Hondo and his handler, Officer Brad Sutton, have completed 417 training events over 283 hours in the last year.

Hondo has been deployed 40 times since the program began, and of those, 33 were for narcotic detection, according to the report. Of those, 21 resulted in seizure of narcotics. In September, Hondo was named officer of the month.

Another shift came in the school resource officer program, working in partnership with Highland District 5 to implement a mentorship program designed to engage in healthy interaction with police. Next year, Highland will add a second school resource officer who will be assigned to the new primary and elementary school campuses.

Meanwhile, school incidents ranging from property crimes to crimes against people increased 24% from 2022 to 2023, with the majority of cases taking place at Highland High School.

Highland’s 22 police officers completed a combined 3,030 hours of training in 2023, including high-risk traffic stops, ground fighter instructor, range officer instructor and other speciality trainings. Three of the officers are new probationary officers, who will complete a 560-hour training program to transition to patrol officers.

At the fire department, calls for service increased by more than 21% between 2022 and 2023. The largest number of calls were EMS calls, followed by fire alarms, motor vehicle accidents and miscellaneous calls.

Currently, three firefighters enrolled in the online basic operations firefighter certification class and 10 are enrolled in the emergency medical responder course. When they are finished, the fire department will have 19 personnel trained at some medical level, according to the report.

“In 2024, we look forward to continuing the growth of the department,” wrote Fire Chief Chris Straub. “With the new training facility, we will continue to strengthen our skills so the HFD can work as safely as we can.“

Approximately 72% of Highland’s EMS calls originate within Highland, which will soon become the major focus of the department as they end EMS service for other fire protection districts. EMS calls increased more than 11% over the year before.

Finally, Highland’s building and zoning enforcement came under the umbrella of public safety and thus moved to the new Public Safety Building. Enforcement increased 33%, including fire and school inspections, property maintenance and housing inspections, fire alarm plan review and other enforcement activities. The department conducted 1,474 inspections and opened 104 code enforcement cases in 2023.

The report was co-signed by Presson, EMS Chief Brian Wilson and Fire Chief Chris Straub.