Overall crime up 2% in Cheyenne in 2023; chief discusses report's highlights

Mar. 28—CHEYENNE — The Cheyenne Police Department's annual report for 2023, which showed an overall 2% increase in crime from the year before, detailed some of the ways the agency addressed and responded to capital city crime last year.

Among the six major categories of crime highlighted in the report, four saw an increase in the number of cases, while motor vehicle theft and theft of motor vehicle parts decreased. The four that were higher were assault offenses, burglary, shoplifting and theft of items from a motor vehicle.

In a seven-year comparison, 2023 saw a decline in crimes against property, from a high of 3,790 in 2021 down to 3,575, according to a news release. Crimes against property include burglary and breaking and entering, destruction of property, embezzlement, theft, extortion and fraud.

Crimes against people increased slightly from 1,009 in 2022 to 1,057 in 2023. The highest total from the last seven years remains in 2021 with a total of 1,090. Crimes against people include aggravated assault, homicide, human trafficking and sex offenses.

Theft of motor vehicle parts — including the ever-popular catalytic converter theft — decreased by 43%. Motor vehicle theft incidents also decreased, from 271 in 2022 to 229 in 2023.

Violent crime rates in Cheyenne showed slight increases in simple assault, intimidation and aggravated assault categories. The number of homicides also increased; there were none recorded in 2022 and three in 2023.

In addition to the crime statistics, CPD Chief Mark Francisco spoke with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle on Wednesday about what the agency accomplished last year, and what it plans to do going forward.

Recruitment

The department's report began by highlighting the agency's recruitment efforts. According to the report, CPD received 186 applications, had 138 people participate in the hiring process, and ultimately hired 22 new police officers. The report also noted four people were lateral transfers.

"It's no secret that law enforcement recruiting around the nation has certainly run into some roadblocks with finding qualified applications that want to go in this line of work," Francisco said. "One of the things that we've done here is — while not dropping out any requirements or any of the process — we've really made an effort to speed up the process. Oftentimes, in the past, agencies, Cheyenne included, would test once or twice a year, and then work through the background process based on the results of that testing.

"We've set it up now where we will test anytime somebody wants to. ... We will start that process immediately, recognizing that we're in competition with many other law enforcement agencies that are seeking to hire people."

CPD's current budget for sworn officers is 113, according to the report, and the department has 110 sworn officers, with three job offers out, Francisco said Wednesday afternoon.

Accountability and force

The report then went into departmental complaints the agency got in 2023. The agency received 12 internal and 12 external complaints, with internal complaints being ones made by CPD staff and external complaints being those made by others outside the agency. Of the 24 complaints, four were exonerated, one was not sustained, 16 were sustained and three were unfounded.

The number of complaints, total, went down from 2022, a year in which the department had 19 external and 24 internal complaints, Francisco said.

"The lower number, the better. That means the organization's generally functioning as it should," he said. "... While we'd like it to be even lower than that, I think, based on recent years, that's trending in the right direction, for sure."

Complaints can vary drastically in severity, he added, and most of them involve policy violations. For that reason, punishment for complaints that are "sustained," or found to be true, can also vary drastically.

"The outcome of that ... depends on the severity of the findings," Francisco said. "Let's say somebody was tardy completing their reports so, maybe it just ends up being a what we call a workstation file entry that's covered in their evaluation. ... It can run up the gamut from there, from a verbal reprimand to a written reprimand to additional training to more serious (things such as) suspension time or even termination."

The report also detailed the racial makeup of arrests and tickets, along with a breakdown of use of force in calls for service. CPD officers responded to a total of 75,965 calls for service in 2023, of which 248 had an officer using force. That amounts to 0.33% of calls ending in some kind of force used by an officer, the report noted.

Notably, Francisco told the WTE that the agency went through all of 2023 without an officer discharging a firearm. While this is not unprecedented, it highlighted the amount of training in "de-escalation" that officers with the CPD regularly go through.

"Well, we work on it a lot, so I will give credit to a lot of training," he said. "So, we work a lot on de-escalation, we work a lot on on firearms training, we work a lot on tactics. Oftentimes, when officers get into a shooting, it's because technically they put themselves in a position to where they really have no choice.

"There's only so much we have control over. But, we do a lot of training with officers as they approach a situation we'll be thinking about those things. You know, use cover, use de-escalation, use these things that that hopefully will avoid having to resort to a firearm.

"Part of that, honestly, is just luck. ... So, it does happen, certainly, but I think, historically, we don't have a lot of them here. One is maybe the average but I'm sure there have been plenty of years where we have not had any."

The most common use of force by police in 2023 was a control hold, which Francisco described as a relatively minor use of force where an officer will guide someone's hands during an arrest to get them into handcuffs. The report noted 201 instances of that technique being used. There were 132 "take downs" used by the department, which was any form of intervention to bring someone to the ground and control their movement.

The third most common use of force was the use of a "WRAP" restraint, which CPD used 73 times last year. WRAP restraints, Francisco said, are another device used by officers to immobilize someone who might not be compliant. Often, he said, it was for someone's own safety.

Community engagement

The report went on to highlight several different community events the agency held last year, intended for police and everyday people to get a chance to interact with police one-on-one. Some of the events included the Neighborhood Night Out program in mid-July, where CPD officers, businesses and citizens had a chance to interact with each other at cookouts in different pockets of the city. The agency also held a citizen's police academy, along with other events, like a Trunk to Treat event for children around Halloween.

"Those are hugely important," Francisco said. "You can look at it like, ... most people in this town have probably have little to no interaction with the police. Often, the ones that do it's on their worst day, right? There's a domestic violence situation, there's a car wreck, it's very high-stress for them. They don't get the opportunity to interact with our members in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. So, those are the kinds of things that we really seek out to participate in, just to build a connection with with the community."

Francisco recalled the reception he gets, along with other officers, at events like Cheyenne Frontier Days.

"So many people just come up and chit-chat with you, and you can tell they appreciate the work you do, and we appreciate the community support. It's just a way to build on those things," he said.

The agency will continue to do such events, and Francisco said the agency continues to look for new ways to engage with the community.

"We've considered the ones that were doing highly successful, and no plans to change those, they're very popular with the community," he said.

Community Action Team, other topics

The report also included numbers on the efficacy of the agency's Community Action Team (CAT), which has been working to investigate fentanyl overdoses and drug crimes. The report said that 70% of overdose deaths investigated by the CAT involved fentanyl, and 27% of the team's overall caseload has been looking into overdose-related arrests.

Of the 63 total cases the CAT took on, more than half (35) were closed with an arrest. The report also noted that all fentanyl distribution cases the team looked into were referred to the U.S. Attorney's office for prosecution.

The report also mentioned the agency's Crime Prevention Team, described as "a unit tasked with enhancing public safety in the community." Francisco said the agency wanted to dedicate more departmental time to the unit, going forward.

"We're just getting started with it," Francisco said of the Crime Prevention Team. "We've had a few successes, but it's really not staffed yet. ... We have a sergeant dedicated to it. We're looking in the near future to add two officers to it, and we've just hired a crime analyst that's going to do the data analysis for us to make sure we're allocating our resources to where the data indicates that we should be."

The report also gave month-to-month data on specific crimes, detailed the accomplishments of the agency's crime prevention team, provided a digest of traffic enforcement, highlighted citizen volunteers and also activity by the K9 unit, bomb squad and SWAT team. Among other things, the report also listed the officers and civilian workers honored at the agency's awards ceremony earlier this year, listing some of the accomplishments many CPD employees made last year.

CORRECTION: An older version of this story incorrectly associated remarks made by CPD Chief Mark Francisco to the Community Action Team, instead of the Crime Prevention Team. The WTE regrets this error.

Samir Knox is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's criminal justice and public safety reporter. He can be reached by email at sknox@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3152. Follow him on X at @bySamirKnox.