Police Department

Kristin Effan

Thank you officers and all your staff

Here’s a quick, objective read on how the Wentzville (MO) Police Department did in November, based on the numbers they chose to highlight: Positive signs • Very high volume of proactive work: 2,345 directed patrols + 659 traffic stops = over 3,000 officer-initiated contacts in a single month. That’s extremely active for a suburban department of Wentzville’s size (pop. ~47,000). It shows they’re out looking for problems rather than just reacting. • 121 arrests off a relatively modest number of serious calls (19 assaults, 6 drug violations) suggests they’re converting traffic stops and field contacts into solid enforcement actions. • Low Part-I crime numbers (27 thefts, 19 assaults, 0 homicides or robberies mentioned) for a city that size is good. It’s not a high-crime area to begin with, but nothing in the graphic jumps out as alarming. • 50 vacation checks and 12 community-policing events show they’re still doing the “small-town” feel-good stuff even while staying busy on enforcement. Neutral / context needed • 72 auto accidents is fairly typical for a growing suburb with a lot of commuter traffic and big-box retail corridors (Wentzville has I-70 and I-64 running nearby). • 17 mental-health calls in a month is moderate—neither unusually high nor suspiciously low. The one eyebrow-raiser • 121 arrests but only 19 assaults + 6 drug violations listed. That means the vast majority of arrests came from traffic stops, warrants, or minor offenses. That’s not inherently bad (many departments run a similar model), but it does mean they’re very enforcement-oriented rather than purely “service”-oriented. Overall verdict They ran a very active, proactive month.**�They’re clearly emphasizing traffic enforcement and self-initiated activity, keeping serious crime low, and still squeezing in some community touchy-feely stuff. Whether you think that’s “great police work” or “over-policing” largely depends on your personal view of traffic-stop-heavy policing, but by their own metrics and for a department their size, these are strong, busy numbers. In short: From a traditional law-enforcement perspective, they had a solid month.

Now is that for the Month ?