2020 Annual Report Final.pub

DESOTO POLICE DEPARTMENT

Chief Executive Officer Joseph W. Costa

Welcome to the DeSoto Police Department’s Annual Report for 2020! Thank you for tak- ing an interest in our department and for the support we receive from the community, the city administration and our elected officials. We hope that you will enjoy this edition and become informed of some of the highlights relative to the overall efforts and activities of the dedicated men and women that make up the entire department. This includes all of our officers, employees and volunteers in Administration, Code Enforcement, Animal Control and the Tri-City Jail. Well, to say the least, 2020 was quite a challenge to everyone especially Law Enforce- ment. Thank goodness that 2020 is in our rear-view mirror! The year started off as any other and then took a spiral with COVID-19 creeping into our lives and changing the way we live, work, meet, interact and stay healthy. The killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police Officers was tragic and horrific and polarized Law Enforcement and the world. Events that will change our lives as we know them!! In 2020, our overall crime decreased by more than 12%! We are proud to report that over the last five years our crime is down by 39.5%! Last year our crimes involving Family Violence increased by 7.3%, however, in the last five years those crimes were down by 6.1%. Property crime was 32% less last year than in 2019. DeSoto, much like the rest of the Metroplex, and mostly due to COVID, saw a rise in assaults and domestic violence. This past year was very different from all other years relative to our community involve- ment and our citizen interactions. COVID-19 caused us, as like everywhere else, to cancel all in-person interactions. Our lives soon revolved around virtual meetings. Public safety had to secure PPEs, masks and bacteria fighting equipment to keep our personnel healthy. Schools were out and virtual learning became the way students were taught. Civil unrest erupted throughout the nation and a call for Police reform was heard in every city. As a result, we took a hard look at our department policies, procedures, training and processes and made them better. I am pleased to say that there were no major changes made as we already were very professional, fair and nationally certified through CALEA.

The Citizen Police Advisory Committee and a Mental Health Unit, called the Care Team, were developed and implemented. Both programs would provide much needed resources to our officers and the community we serve. Our Police and Fire Departments were tasked with providing safety, security and guidance to a COVID Testing center at the Ellis Davis Sports Complex on Polk St. The year of 2020 was a very unique and challenging year! Now, more than ever, I encourage each of you to take an interest in your Police Depart- ment. Attend the next Citizen Police Academy, come on out and ride-a-long with an of- ficer for an hour or two, take a tour of YOUR Police Department building, attend a town hall meeting or become a volunteer. By all means, get involved and get to know the offic- ers that serve you each and every day. Thanks to all of our officers, employees and volunteers that work together to make our department better and our city safe! Thanks to every one of them for their efforts dealing with the challenges of 2020! Thank you for all of the sacrifices you all make to maintain order and a safe environment.

Assistant Chief Gary Perkins

A ssistant Chief Perkins is responsible for the daily oversight of the operations of the Police Department which includes the Patrol Division, Support Services Divi- sion, Code Enforcement & Animal Control and the DeSoto’s Regional Jail. The Po- lice Department is authorized 79 Sworn Officers and 40 full and part time civilian personnel providing Police Services 24 hours a day, seven days a week and serves a population of 53,568 residents in an area of 21.6 square miles. The 2020 year proved to be an unprecedented year with challenges and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many individuals and families have been impacted by the pandemic and the challenges that came with it, yet the DeSoto Police Depart- ment continued to serve the community and worked with our community partners, residents and businesses toward the goal of keeping the city safe. The Police Depart- ment was tasked with continuing to provide all of our necessary services while keeping our police officers, civilian employees and citizens safe and healthy. Officers were called upon to respond to incidents where it was unknown whether or not an individual might be positive with the Covid-19 virus. In spite of this, they continued to perform their duty to interact with these individuals and all of our of- ficers and staff members did so without reluctance. 2020 included time periods of “lock downs” and stay-at-home orders, subsequently less individuals were commuting and fewer persons were meeting in group settings, resulting in fewer contacts between police officers and the public than we had expe- rienced in the previous year.

The DeSoto Police Department is divided into different divisions: Administration, Patrol, Support Services and Jail, where some units are divided into sub-divisions by function.

ADMINISTRATION DIVISION The Administration Division consists of 4 sworn officers and 2 non-sworn employees, The Chief of Police, Assistant Chief of Police, Sergeant Professional Standards, Ser- geant Professional Services, 1 Reserve Officer, 1 alarm Permit Clerk and 2 Staff Assis- tants. PATROL DIVISION The Patrol Division is commanded by a Captain and is broken down into four 12-hour patrol shifts. The Department’s Patrol Lieutenants each have command of a single Pa- trol Shift and each Patrol Lieutenant is assigned the individual responsibility for a sin- gle Patrol District. The Lieutenants then utilize >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51

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