Last year saw the lowest amount of emergency calls to the Auburn Police Department in over a decade, according to the agency's annual crime statistics.
The decrease was one of several observations resulting from a review of the department's recent statistics by The Citizen.
The department reported 29,820 calls in 2023, the fewest since 23,121 in 2012. Calls ranged from about 32,000 to about 39,000 in the years between, with a peak of 38,991 in 2018.
Auburn Police Chief James Slayton told The Citizen he attributes last year's lower numbers to the department's partnerships, such as recovery nonprofit Nick's Ride 4 Friends and the Liberty Resources Mobile Crisis Team. People are becoming more aware they can reach out to those organizations, instead of 911, for nonemergency situations like mental health or substance abuse issues, he said.
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That frees up Slayton's department, which continues to experience an officer shortage, to respond to emergencies. Its minimum of five patrol officers per shift "have an entire city to cover," he said.
"If we can connect them with who they need for further assistance, and they're comfortable utilizing that platform, it benefits both of us," he said.
"They get the help they need and they're not just calling us because they don't know who else to call."
The department's local partnerships have also been part of its response to rises in trespassing and mental health problem investigations of 36% and 27%, respectively. Trespassing investigations rose to 150 the last two years after averaging 110 the previous four, and mental health problem investigations rose to 429 in 2022 and 427 in 2023 after averaging 337 the previous four.
Slayton said there has been a recent increase in people breaking into vacant and condemned buildings in the city. The increase in mental health problems in the community since COVID-19, meanwhile, has been apparent from the rise in not only the department's investigations, but local suicides and intakes at the Cayuga County Community Mental Health Center.
When they encounter people trespassing or experiencing mental health problems, Auburn police often try to connect them with the Department of Social Services or the mental health center, Slayton said.
"We're problem solvers," he said, "so when we realize what someone's problem is, we try to use specific resources to help that person."
The Citizen also noticed a recent decrease in domestic violence investigations, which averaged 1,359 from 2018 to 2021 and reached a high of 1,474 in the latter year. They have since dropped to 1,175 the last two years. Slayton believes that's because many people weren't going to work during the pandemic, and "having the arguments that they might have if they're there together all day long."
COVID-19 similarly explains a recent increase in DUIs. They've risen from 25 in 2020, when bars and restaurants were closed for months and then faced restrictions upon reopening, to 61 last year.
Use of force incidents, which the department started reporting publicly in 2021, rose from 196 that year to 227 in 2022 and 266 last year. Slayton blamed New York state's 2020 bail reform law, which eliminated cash bail for misdemeanors and some nonviolent felonies, for the increase. Since the law took effect, he said, Auburn police have often arrested the same person multiple times in the same day on charges that would have landed them in jail. He believes people are "not being held accountable for their actions the way they used to be," making them more combative with law enforcement.
Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck also blamed bail reform in February for an increase in use of force incidents by his deputies.
Slayton didn't have an explanation for The Citizen for two other recent trends in his department's crime statistics. Harassment investigations have been dropping year over year since 2018, from 673 to 407 last year. Animal complaints reached a six-year high in 2023, going from about 160 in 2018 and 2019 to about 130 the following two years, and then to 179 in 2022 and 192 last year.
While the explanations for some of the changes in the Auburn Police Department's statistics are external, Slayton believes the efforts of both officers and civilian staff have contributed to the positive ones.
"Everything that they do every day is part of the reason why the stats go down," he said.
Staff writer Kelly Rocheleau can be reached at (315) 282-2243 or kelly.rocheleau@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @KellyRocheleau.