Police calls, charges filed; both are going up

Benson’s police force has seen a significant increase in the number of calls it is receiving annually and in the number of charges that are being filed.
The Benson Police Department provides 24-hour service to the community with the six officers who serve under Chief Ian Hodge.
Over the past five years, the total number of charges filed annually has more than doubled from 614 to 1,254. Meanwhile, the total number of calls has increased by nearly 70 percent, going from 2,687 in 2010 to 4,542 in 2014.
In 2010, Benson police filed an average 1.7 charges a day. That number has gone up to 3.4 per day. The number of calls the department received averaged 7.4 in 2010, but is at 12.4 today.
And 2015 is proving to be even busier. While the police force may have averaged 60 incident complaint reports (ICRs) a week in 2014, it has not seen fewer than 80 a week so far in 2015.
A substantial reason for the increased calls and charges is due to the changing demographics of the community, Hodge said in an interview with the Monitor-News on the 2014 police report. Some of that changing demographic is made up of an increasing population of itinerant residents who move in for a short time and then move on.
 
Photo:  Chief Ian Hodge at his swearing in ceremony.