Chief updates Libby City Council on crime figures

The Libby Police Department saw a spike in service calls, arrests and citations in April over the same month last year, which Chief Scott Kessel attributed to the early pandemic lockdown measures.

Last month, the department handled 228 service calls, 14 arrests and 19 citations, Kessel told Libby City Council on May 17. In April 2020, the department saw 143 service calls, one arrest and four citations.

While he did not have statistics from 2019 on hand, Kessel anecdotally linked the discrepancy to last year’s economic shutdown. Stores, churches, restaurants and bars were closed as the coronavirus began to spread across the nation. Residents, especially those vulnerable to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, were urged to self-isolate.

Today, the service calls the department handles are “trending along regular norms,” Kessel told city councilors.

In another change, the Lincoln County Detention Center has resumed taking in all offenders, the chief said. The shift has let local police officers execute more search warrants, mostly on vehicles, on drug-related cases, he said.

“Once again the jail is finally accepting more prisoners, which allows us to take more people into custody,” Kessel said.

Department personnel responded to five city ordinance violations in April and have addressed seven more so far this month, he said, reminding residents to keep their lawns trimmed and free of debris.

“People continue to let the weeds grow and the trash accumulate, so we’re working on it,” he said.

Kessel also announced that Police officer Ronald Buckner had undergone drug interdiction training. Sgt. Christopher Pape had completed 40 hours of crisis intervention training as well, he said.

“It’s dealing with mental health crises and how to deescalate them to the best of our ability,” Kessel said. “Hopefully, we can prevent some issues from spiraling out of control.”