Police and library annual reports

At a recent council meeting three departments presented their annual reports: police, public works and library. The police and library reports will be summarized in this article and public works will be summarized next month.

The best news from the Police Department is that it is presently fully staffed. Unfortunately, there are some upcoming retirements. The patrol division, staffed by four sergeants and 16 officers, handled more than 15,000 calls in 2022. Preliminary data indicates that burglary and total arrests were significantly higher in 2022 versus 2021. Other categories appear to be similar for 2022 and 2021.

One key change for the department is the addition of body cameras. This has added significant work for the records division. The cameras added 17,840 additional files that needed to be handled. This contributed to the increase in public records requests. The K-9 team completed its second year of work. In 2022 the team results included 10.5 pounds of methamphetamine, two ounces of heroin, eight grams of cocaine, 223,142 fentanyl pills and six firearms seized.

The department continues to have other activities not directly related to law enforcement. The department has a great relationship with the Kelso School District to employ a school resource officer. The school district pays 80 percent of the annual cost of the position and the city pays the rest.

The Behavioral Health Unit (BHU) began in 2021 and continues to provide excellent support to officers on calls when a person in crisis is contacted. In 2022, the BHU had 841 engagements in Kelso.

The KPD has two major successful community activities, Shop with a Cop, which provides underserved kids with a memorable Christmas, and National Night Out. The department also participates in the drive-through Halloween at Tam O’Shanter Park, a citizen police academy, numerous school presentations and the Torch Run and Polar Plunge to raise funds for Special Olympics.

Like the police department, the library is fully staffed with four full-time employees and four part-time staff, supplemented by volunteers.

In 2022, the library overcame significant challenges including, lingering pandemic effects, lack of community engagement and visibility and changes to the leadership team. The library is now under the good leadership of Eric Moser.

In 2022, there were 16,000 patron visits and over 34,000 items checked out. Individuals saved more than $1 million borrowing items versus purchasing them. Library patrons increased steadily with over 2,000 visits in December 2022.

For more Kelso, see page 19

Department of Justice. Our city has public safety, transportation, and infrastructure needs and we hope to return to the city with a positive report that our voices for these priorities will be heard.

All the collaborative efforts of our state and federal legislators and lobbyists are appreciated. It’s truly a team effort. State and congressionally designated funding and grants are dedicated and can be directed toward our community, and if not our community, they will flutter off like a hummingbird to bless another community. The intention – to benefit our community and bring joy and happiness to the citizens in our city. Our council is working closely with our legislators and lobbyists to ensure our needs are well represented. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to do so. Happy spring everyone! What brings you joy and happiness? For me, it’s hummingbirds flying back home, and family all the way!

One significant action in 2022 was to open library check out privileges to all Kelso School District students and staff. For 2023, the library will continue to focus on improving its collection, technology access, literacy, community and school outreach, and expansion of services via community partnerships.