Pocatello police making a few changes to types of calls they can respond to

The Pocatello Police Department is seeing an increase in the number of calls for service.

Chief Scott Marchand said they always see an increase during the summer, but this year calls have skyrocketed even more.

In an effort to try to help with all the calls it receives, the Police Department is making a few changes to what types of calls its officers respond to.

Marchand said the goal is to be able to focus more on criminal cases, rather than civil cases. He said they frequently get calls to scare or discipline children, calls to have an officer act as a witness, or calls to help with landlord and tenant issues. Marchand said in these types of civil cases, police have no jurisdiction so officers really can’t do anything. He said when officers respond to these calls, they can’t help and so it ends up just taking officers off the street.

Marchand said he hopes by cracking down on what types of calls they respond to, it can help make the department more efficient.

“We’re just trying to streamline what we do, make our guys a little bit more proactive, give them time to actually work on criminal cases instead of being out for 30 minutes or an hour on a civil issue that has nothing to do with law enforcement,” Marchand said.

He said they will still respond to any type of disturbance or anything where there’s a threat of violence. Marchand said they will still help in domestic disturbances, and if required by court documentation, will respond to custody exchanges.

The department is also pushing for more people to report crimes here online. Marchand said it would be the types of crimes where there is no suspect, no follow up, and all that can be done is filing a report. He said by more people utilizing the online system, it can save police and the community a lot of time.

The types of incidents police want to encourage people to report online are:

-lost property

-misdemeanor thefts of property (other than firearms or materials that threaten public safety)

-harassing telephone calls with no suspect information

-identity theft without an identifiable suspect

-online or email fraud without an identifiable suspect and if the financial loss classifies as a misdemeanor

-hit-and-run collisions with no suspect or suspect vehicle

-gas drive-offs

Marchand said police will still investigate and follow up on all crimes that are reported online. He said just reporting it online and getting all the information filed without needing an officer on scene will be a huge help to the department.

Marchand said if people have any questions about whether or not an officer is needed, or how to report online, call the police department at 208-234-6100.