EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first installment of a two-part annual series looking at the Hot Springs Police Department's accomplishments over the past year, and its future plans. In this installment, Hot Springs police look back at the accomplishments of the past year.
Steven Mross
The Sentinel-Record
In addition to fighting crime, city police had to assume more of a lifesaving role in 2018, the department's chief administrators said in an interview this week.
For the third time since he was appointed to the office in May 2016, Hot Springs Police Chief Jason Stachey sat down with The Sentinel-Record to review the department's accomplishments from the past year and discuss plans for the coming year.
Joined by Assistant Police Chief Walt Everton, who was appointed to his new position on Sept. 7, 2018, Stachey said he thought the now-annual tradition of recapping and looking ahead was very important "to ensure accountability and transparency to the citizens and make them aware of what their police department is doing in the city."
Stachey said the department had numerous accomplishments in 2018, but he was especially thankful that all officers completed naloxone, or Narcan, training, "which in the past year has saved the lives of several citizens who suffered an opioid overdose."
All sworn personnel carry the device, which he described as "like a nasal inhaler," in their units and "if they have reason to believe a person has overdosed they can take this device and administer it. You can't give too much; it contains the exact amount needed."
Everton noted that within the last week patrol officers had responded to an incident and "found a man not functioning at all and they administered Narcan and it brought him back. It was a great save."
Stachey noted all officers are also CPR certified, which was a requirement before going through the Narcan training, and an officer had saved one person using CPR within the last few weeks.
"The tourniquet training started the ball rolling because we had several saves where someone was bleeding out and they were able to stop it," Everton said. "With our CPR and Narcan training, it has made us trifold in our ability to assist. We're not doctors by any means, but we're basic first responders with just a little bit of training and it's really paid off."
Stachey said that, in the last few years, the department has seen an increase of situations where officers are the first to arrive on scenes "and we've been able to provide lifesaving emergency action right there."
Everton said it would be nice, in the future, that in addition to the usual statistics on burglaries, thefts and robberies, the police department was able to say "this officer had 29 documented saves. We're not looking for pats on the back, but it's something we do on a day-in, day-out basis. If we can make a difference in someone's life, we want to do that."
On Jan. 10, two officers, Cash Murray and Richard Davis, were each awarded a "Life Saving Ribbon" after each individually acted to save a citizen's life in recent weeks. Murray used CPR to save a man who had suffered a medical episode and Davis was able to help a man "who had suffered multiple traumatic wounds and was bleeding," Stachey said, noting he provided pressure to stop the bleeding and "kept him alive until help arrived."
"We recognized their actions with a ribbon that can be worn on their uniform," he said. "It basically means, 'I saved a life.'"
Stachey stressed the department will continue to address crime in the community "first and foremost" and participated in two major crime reduction operations in 2018, including Operation White Horse in October, which targeted heroin trafficking in Hot Springs and Garland County, and an earlier unnamed operation involving a warrant roundup.
"We concentrated our efforts with these operations and it resulted in the arrests of over 40 suspects," he said.
Stachey noted the department's Special Investigations Unit-Narcotics also participated in the execution of 19 search warrants throughout 2018, resulting in 120 arrests on various narcotics-related charges.
While there were a total of six homicide victims in 2018, Stachey said the deaths stemmed from only four incidents, with two of the incidents each involving two victims, and it was a reduction from 2017 when there were eight homicide victims stemming from six incidents.
"Looking back, I think our numbers are some of the lowest I've seen in the 20 years I've been here," Stachey said. "Obviously, one is too many and we will continue with our crime reduction strategies to not only address violent crime but property crime, as well."
Stachey said the department continued its Citizens Police Academy and Teen Police Academy, adding an additional week to the Teen Police Academy, with 53 people from the community graduating in total in 2018.
He said they were also still committed to their two large community events, Bridging the Gap and Boo with a Badge, which had approximately 11,000 people attending last year. They also participated in National Night Out again with 12 neighborhoods taking part, "the largest participation we've had."
"It keeps growing every year," Everton said.
Stachey said they increased their social media presence to 23,000 followers, which assisted in the identification of numerous individuals suspected of various crimes.
"I didn't realize the power of social media," he said. "It really surprised me. We've been using it to help solve crimes and address issues in the community and it's unbelievable the impact it has had."
Everton noted the department's regular "Warrant Wednesday" feature, focusing on one particular suspect being sought, has been "an outstanding success" with a 90 percent clearance rate. "Everyone wants to call. They want to get involved, but don't always know how and this gives them an outlet for it."
The department, which took over Hot Springs Animal Services, initiated two rabies vaccination drives and several adoption events in 2018. They also continued the implementation of electronic ticket writers and motor vehicle software for the police units to increase efficiency.
"We also conducted multiple traffic enforcement operations and neighborhood directed patrols throughout the city," Stachey said, such as the recent focus on safety in the downtown crosswalks. "If we saw a trend of crime occurring we used additional assets and personnel as needed to address it."
"That was often a direct response to calls from citizens," Everton said. "They call to say they have a problem in their neighborhood and we do what we can. We've had a lot of success with that."
Everton said the department "made a concentrated effort to recruit a little more" and had a large number of police officer applicants to participate in the hiring process.
"In the last four or five years, we were seeing a lower number of applicants," Everton said. "That was a trend nationwide. Everyone was coming up short. But this year, using social media and new recruiting strategies, like we had an open house, we had the largest number of applicants we've had in five to seven years."
Stachey said they are one only one officer short of being at full manpower and Everton said in his 27-year career at the HSPD he's only known them to be at full capacity two times. "And that lasted about six months," he said, laughing.
"There are always officers leaving, retiring, moving on. It's rare to be full and running full steam. The recruiting effort is really paying it forward," Everton said.
Local on 01/20/2019