2021 Marked A Return to Normal For Benton County Emergency Personnel

(KNSI) – 2021 looked a lot more like normal for the Benton County Sheriff’s Office. The number of calls fielded by dispatch hit a six-year high and the volume of incidents that required a response from public safety was the most in seven years.

Still, Sheriff Troy Heck says there are some good trends in the data. The department has sole responsibility for policing the rural areas within the county. Crime there fell again. Heck says it is due to the quality of men and women in his organization.

“Our staff worked very hard at being proactive and being out in the communities and addressing problems as they come up. I think the other thing that helps is we’ve focused very much on crime prevention messages,” he says.

Given the volume of calls received, Sheriff Heck says he is lucky to enjoy a fully staffed dispatch center. The jail division is not quite as fully fleshed out.

“We have fought really hard to get our detention officer ranks back up to where they should be. We’re getting close to the point where we can call it full staffing, but we’re still working on that, and it took a long time,” he says.

Heck says one of the biggest trouble spots for his department is dealing with mental health problems. There is a shortage of beds locally and it often falls on his department to deal with individuals who need more comprehensive care than that required by the average person.

Peak hours for calls are between 11 AM and 6 PM. Friday sees more activity than the rest of the week and there is a slight upward trend during the summer months from June to September.

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