The Blaine Police Department has released its "2024 Year in Review" division stats via a social media post, summarizing the broad scope of their law enforcement activities over the past year. As a snapshot of civic safety and law enforcement diligence, the data reveals that officers responded to 55,623 calls for service across various units of the department.
Breaking down the numbers, the Traffic Unit made "14,751 Traffic Stops," which led to "3,569 Citations Issued," and culminated in "331 DWI Arrests" and "272 Hands Free Violations." Meanwhile, the police dogs seemed busier than the detectives, with the K9 Unit logging "2,196 Training hours" and taking part in "272 Total deployments," yielding "94 Total arrests" — a reflection, perhaps, of both crime trends and department priorities.
Community Service Officers handled "7,479 CSO Calls for Service," and within that same service net caught "436 Animal Complaints." The Retail Unit's efforts to deter and adjudicate larceny culminated in a recovery of "$67,750.23 from stolen merchandise city-wide." In a different vein, the Detectives Unit invested time into "1,129 Cases investigated" and efficiently "processed 545 Gun permits."
For operations focusing on regulatory compliance, the DOG Unit (Directed Operations Group) conducted a range of checks, including "145 Predatory offender registration checks," "130 Alcohol compliance checks," "54 Tobacco compliance checks," and "10 Massage compliance checks," reflecting the department's role in the enforcement of both criminal and civil statutes. On the administrative support front, "15,727 Incident reports processed" was handled by the Support Services/ Records Unit.
An aspect of policing that often goes unnoticed, the Property Room/ Evidence Unit, brought in "2,749 Pieces of evidence collected" last year. It's a number that's simultaneously mundane and monumental in the context of the criminal justice system, where every piece tells a part of the story that is bigger than itself. The granular detail of these statistics offers a lens into the day-to-day workings of a suburban police department, as well as the commonality and diversity of issues faced by communities similar to Blaine.
