By L. Parsons Acting Winslow Police Chief Ken Arend presented his quarterly report to the Winslow City Council last week showing that detectives for the department have a 68 percent case closure rate. During the time period being discussed, April through June, the department’s three detectives reviewed approximately 58 cases. Eight cases remain active at this time. The Citizen Liaison Committee has expressed concerns about not knowing the officers serving in the department, according to Arend. “I think that is valid. We have a new department and have done a lot of hiring the last three years. We are going to be putting photos and bios of our officers and our administrative staff on our Facebook page so you can see who is working with your department,” he said. He then introduced two new dispatchers to the council, Caitlin Reyes and Christopher Robertson. At least one more dispatch position remains to be filled. The dispatch, or communications division, is made up of one supervisory position, which is as of yet unfilled, and six dispatchers. During this past quarter, the division took 4,344 calls for service. Those calls were for Winslow Fire and Emergency Medical Services. Seventy-five calls were for fire, 686 for EMS and 3,583 calls were responded to by WPD. Nearly 300 arrests resulted from those calls. The patrol division is also seeking to fill positions. Arend explained that five jobs are currently available in that department. However, he said, “We have done testing with five candidates and are working on background checks, so we hope to have those positions filled soon.” The council approved two grants from the Arizona Department of Administration Office of Grant and Federal Resources for the Winslow Police Department. The first, in the amount of $52,590 will fund the ongoing operation of WPD’s Public Safety Answering Point, a program that allows WPD dispatchers to answer emergency calls from around the region. The second, in the amount of $38,950 will aid in the operation of WPD’s Text to 911 service. The police department continues to work at a modified capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two officers have tested positive for the virus but following a mandatory 14-day quarantine, both were recovered and able to return to work. The department is also in the process of hiring a new chief. The hiring committee has narrowed the field of candidates and will come before council on Aug. 25 to discuss their selections. The council will convene in an executive session following that meeting to discuss the matter further and the position is expected to be filled by early September. The council also heard an update on city projects by City Manager John Barkley. “The finance department is monitoring customer water and sewer accounts and if they see something that looks haywire, they are going to call the customer and if necessary, we will send out a crew to address water leaks or other issues. We will work with the customer to design a payment plan or provide other accommodations to help them get through that. For example, if you have a leak somewhere around your yard, or things like that,” said Barkley. Barkley mentioned the parking lot of the Hubbell Building, located at 524 W. Second St., will be paved in the near future and that the city has recently purchased a fleet of lawn mowers that will be used to maintain parks throughout the city including the cemetery. Blight abatement continues in Winslow. The latest project to get underway is the refurbishing of the Westerner Motel, located at 500 E. Second St. The code enforcement department has been reorganized and will now be under the Winslow Police Department. “This will provide a better process for citations, ease in the court process and communication with absentee landlords.” In other business, the council: * Accepted the terms and conditions associated with the grant award of the nearly $1.1 million made to the city through the CARES Act. The conditions state that money must be spent on costs related to time, effort and employee related expenses directly related to COVID-19. * Approved an ordinance increasing the property tax levy and decreasing the property tax rate to $2.27 per $100,000 of assessed property value and declared an emergency so it may take effect immediately instead of the usual 30-day delay. * Heard the finance report for the month of June in which Finance Director Elias Jouen reported citywide revenues were $2.7 million bringing the year to date total to $17.3 million. Citywide expenditures were $2.8 million, bringing year to date totals to $17 million. * Approved the open purchase orders updated by order of the council on July 27.
