Idaho Falls police address spike in violent crime

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - The Idaho Falls Police Department held a community meeting Tuesday evening to address violent crime in the Numbered Streets neighborhood.

The area between 2nd St. and 7th St. has seen an uptick in violent crime recently. One intersection has experienced three shootings in six months, including the killing of Eric Leask in March.

There were equal amounts of concern and frustration from residents during the meeting at Emerson High School, which was packed beyond standing room only. Organizers had to bring extra chairs into the gym, only to find its supply exhausted.

“We average about 1-2 homicides every year in the City of Idaho Falls,” Police Chief Bryce Johnson said. “And that’s been a consistent number going back a lot of years.”

“We’ve had multiple here right in one space of time,” he added.

“And it’s definitely scary, what’s going on,” resident Erin Mortimer said.

“We tend to stay off of 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd St. just because we’ve had bad experiences that way,” 7th St. resident Michael Merkley said.

“Yeah, we’re tired of being afraid to leave the house after dark,” Mortimer added.

“What’s the city gonna do to protect families and kids?” asked resident Mike Stokes.

Local News 8 asked Stokes if he felt IFPD answered that question at the meeting.

“Not really,” he said. “Not at all.”

Local News 8 once again asked IFPD why this neighborhood has seen a sudden spike in violent crime. Johnson said it’s complicated.

“For me to say, ‘this is what thing that causes crime,’ would just not be true,” he asserted. “It’s a very complex situation.”

However, Johnson did say it’s a symptom of a larger issue.

"We are seeing an increase in crime in Idaho Falls,” he admitted. “Our population is increasing and we’re seeing some increases in crime. And we’re responding to that.”

“I mean, you look at the growth of Idaho Falls over the past couple years, it’s jumping up through the roof,” Stokes said. “As far as the police force goes, they’re not gonna get on top of it because it’s growing too fast for them to keep up.”

Johnson told meeting attendees crime in Idaho Falls is up 13 percent over the past year, but the Numbered Streets has seen a 24 percent bump.

Some residents at the meeting wanted to know if the recent spike is being caused by out-of-towners. Johnson said the overwhelming majority of people they arrest not only live in Idaho Falls, but have been arrested by IFPD before.

“The cops are doing the best they can, and as long as we’re aware of what we can do, what else, really, do I need to hear?” Mortimer said.

Local News 8 asked Johnson what the IFPD is doing to address concerns.

“The officers are going to go to ‘hotspot places,’ we call it,” he said. “They’re gonna go where things happen.”

Johnson said officers, not residents, are now calling in 50 percent of the neighborhood’s incidents. That’s up from 33 percent in 2023. But the department is taking another step.

"We're going to be adding a neighborhood police officer,” Johnson said. “So we picked up a new position last year from the city. So we'll pair that with another one of our officers, so we'll have two police officers that are gonna work this area, along with some of the Bar District downtown."