Trending
ST. CLAIR TOWNSHIP -- Last year was a pretty active year for the St. Clair Township Police Department according to Police Chief Brian McKenzie.
Police officers filed 1,395 incidents reports and responded to 12,887 calls for services in 2023.
Officers also issued 996 traffic citations which McKenzie said accounts for the decline in crash reports.
In years past, the department has had over 200-300 crash reports. In 2023, those numbers were down to 172.
Officers made 342 arrests with 97 of those being for misdemeanors and 13 for felonies. McKenzie noted that the department's reporting system was only able to provide a partial breakdown for the number of arrests.
Fraud reports to the police department have gone up as people are becoming more creative in how they access people's information, McKenzie said. It's not just the elderly being targeted anymore. Scammers are going after middle-aged people as well.
"They are being really creative in how they are doing this through the process of a conversation they somehow gained personal information on these people, and they are using this information in conversation and the victims are confirming what they are being told and this is allowing fraudsters access to their accounts, credit cards and things like that," McKenzie said.
He noted that not that long ago a resident reported getting a fraudulent call from someone claiming to be from his financial institution. The person told officers the caller used the names of people that he deals with at the financial institution all the time.
The chief also said they are experiencing a lot of fraud cases involving counterfeit $100 bills.
"We are getting people that are creating fraudulent $100 bills. They are making them and cashing them out to businesses," McKenzie said. "Sometime the businesses, because they are understaffed, they don't take the time to proactive themselves so by the time they realize it they have already collected six to 10 fake $100 bills. It's just a trickle effect of people not being employed. "
McKenzie said, the township's drug cases are big right now with the current situation at the border -- a countywide concern. The chief said that fentanyl is the popular drug again along with methamphetamines. These were problems in the northern part of the county about 10 years ago and now they are making a big comeback everywhere.
The St. Clair Township Police Department recently had a large drug bust where they seized almost 60 grams of meth.
The township is also seeing a large spike in drug overdoses.
"Drugs are going to be a problem until we get it figured out on the border. It's not going to be a quick stop right now but with the two K9s that we have, we are very proactive in our enforcement of drugs," McKenzie said. "We are not going to put up with it here. You want to do that type of stuff do it somewhere else."
McKenzie also said that the department has great relationships with a lot of local businesses and officers respond quickly to received tips.
"You want to do that type of stuff, you want to steal or whatever, don't come here," McKenzie said. "Go somewhere else because we will do exactly what we need to do."
Staffing for St. Clair Township Police Department has been a challenge just like it has for departments all across the country.
While the chief hired three new officers this year, he also lost three.
The department currently has 14 officers which include three sergeants, two K9 officers with specialized K9s (Norris and Rebel) that serve as dual purpose narcotic and patrol K9s, three detectives, one school resource officer
"Staffing is a struggle. We are down one officer right now," McKenzie said.
The department towards the end of 2023 negotiated a contract between the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the township that according to McKenzie put his officers on the same playing field as some of the other local agencies, allowing them to offer wages comparable to some of the other local law enforcement agencies.
"It was generous on the township, and it was a good robust negotiation with the FOP and the Township," McKenzie said. "I appreciate both sides working together in getting a good deal for both sides.
Other challenges included the rising cost of fuel vehicle maintenance and safety equipment for the officers.
"You try to balance that with giving these guys a good wage that they can live on and support their families, it's tough," McKenzie said. "Just like any other citizen you got to figure what is most important and stick with that."
Officers in the department underwent a lot of training in 2023. Some attended an FBI Alert training where they learned tactics for a single officer to go into a building and take out active shooters. One officer attended homicide school, another officer went to field training officer school where he became certified as a field training officer (FTO). The department now has three FTOS. The department now also has a pepper ball instructor.
McKenzie said he doesn't want to rely on other agencies to certify his officers. He wants to do as much as he can in-house as far as training goes for their benefit. He also noted that he has no problems with sending an officer for training who wants to go if it benefits the department.
The officers busy not just with arrest and incident calls, but also in their giving back to the community with their second annual autism walk, golf outing, Grinch Series, Cops and Kids Basketball game, toy and food drives where the officers collected food and money donations for the Fish Organization which they use at Second Harvest.
Officers have replaced lost bikes for area children and helped residents down on their luck with grocery gift cards.
"These are the people we rely on every year to support us, and we are 100 % all in for supporting our community. We have the best community in the county, McKenzie said. "We understand how things are for everybody. We have the best people in the county, and I feel that we are highly respected, and our guys realized this."
The chief also said the resident won't accept anything less than 100% from the officers. They demand it and they deserve it.
McKenzie went on to say that he has the best group of guys in the county and although they don't always see eye-to-eye, that is a good thing. He believes a little constructive criticism both ways can make things better. The department is well balanced with both younger and older officers which works for them.
"I'm blessed to be where I'm at. We are blessed to have the community that we have, and I'm blessed to have the guys that I have working for me," McKenzie said. "We do the best that we can, and I like to think that we are respected throughout the county because of that, and tomorrow we are just going to get up and put one foot in front of the other one and do the best job that we can. We had an active year and I'm curious to see what 2024 brings."