ASHLAND — The Ashland Police Department has operated at full capacity since May of 2023. Chief David Lay said the last time that happened was for a short period in late 2020 to early 2021.
Police agencies nationwide have seen a shortage of officers, which has grown in recent years. According to the Police Executive Research Forum, staffing levels nationally fell 4.8% between January 2020 and January 2023 — and that drop has happened just since PERF started examining the issue.
A slew of factors contribute to those staffing challenges, among them changes in police responsibilities, public opinion and more competitive recruiting practices between departments.
So, for Chief Lay and Capt. Craig Kiley, APD operating at full capacity was a highlight of the past year.
“It allows us, when we are full-staffed, to be able to allocate resources a little easier,” Lay said.
Still, Lay said the annexation of 91 acres of land into the city last July resulted in another 28 calls and four crashes for police to deal with each month.
With the extra land in APD’s jurisdiction, Lay said one of his goals for 2024 is continuing conversations about bringing two more new members to the force.
“It’s a big area,” Lay said. “You could theoretically make that an entire new patrol zone.”
2023 by the numbers
The total number of calls for service the Ashland Police Department handled in 2023 fell by 3.4% compared to 2022.
Lay said the department had 17,363 calls in 2023. In 2022, it dealt with 17,972 calls.
But, the number of arrests increased between 2022 and 2023. In 2023, the department made 867 arrests. Broken down by age and sex, those numbers are as follows:
- 268 adult females
- 542 adult males
- 8 juvenile females
- 49 juvenile males
That number is a 3.7% increase from 2022, where the total number of arrests tallied 836.
Lay said he typically completes a year-end report taking a look at trends in February each year. Those reports encompass which crimes have increased, whether traffic accidents have increased in a certain area and other stats.
“(Doing that) allows us to target areas that potentially are creating these trends, or where these trends are occurring, and to give us more presence in that area through patrol activities or enforcement activities if necessary,” Lay said.
‘It all boils down to transparency’
Lay said the department is “continually trying to enforce speeding laws.”
The department recently hired a part-timer to work specifically on traffic enforcement.
Lay added the department has a portable speed notification sign, and installed a fixed speed sign on Mifflin Avenue. The fixed speed sign, Lay said, has helped slow the traffic in that area and decrease complaints from residents.
Lay and Kiley also said the department started using body-worn cameras at the end of 2022, and the technology was in use all throughout 2023.
Ashland City Council approved up to $120,000 for the purchase of those cameras in June 2022. Kiley headed up the efforts to get the cameras, starting even before he was promoted to captain in October 2021.
Lay said there has been a learning curve with using the cameras. The department has experienced some technical difficulties and redacting the videos for public records requests takes time.
Still, Lay and Kiley agree the body cameras have helped with conflict resolution and in court, where they can play back the video of how a situation was handled in the moment.
“The body cameras, in all fairness, is really to protect the truth,” Kiley said. “It first and foremost (protects) who’s watching it, to understand what really happened — the officers, the public.
“Unless you’re there, that’s about as close as you’re gonna get to reality. And that really all boils down to transparency.”