Public safety by the numbers

In a discussion sure to continue at future meetings, Cheney’s Planning Commission received an overview of public safety issues at its May 13 arising from an increasing population due to development south of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific railroad tracks.

In an email presented to the commission, Police Chief John Hensley said the department responded to 1,714 calls for service in 2018 generated by the 625 residents who live in developments on that side of the tracks at The Grove and Terra Vista apartment complexes. If the projected build out of 3,000 units of various residential types takes place as forecast, Hensley said that could increase to 8,227 calls for service.

“Thankfully, at this point those were priority three (calls),” he added.

Priority three calls are routine service calls such as missing bicycles and vehicle break-ins, Hensley explained. However, more calls — particularly at The Grove student apartments — are becoming priority twos which are classified as calls where individuals are in “imminent danger.” Hensley said these calls at The Grove stem from domestic violence issues.

Priority one calls are calls that result in potential for death or serious injury from violent acts, including those arising from domestic violence issues.

In the email, Hensley said in 2015, the FBI reported the average number of officers per 10,000 people in the U.S. was 21.4, with 3.5 officers per 1,000 residents being a benchmark. Cheney’s department has 17 officers, and would need to add nine officer over the next 5-10 years should the projected increase in population occur.

“No matter how much I dream of that, the reality is it’s not going to happen,” Hensley said, citing budgeting constraints.

Besides a growing population, public safety south of the tracks is heavily impacted by the frequency and length of trains. Hensley said they recorded one instance this year where a train blocked access to the area from Cheney-Spangle and Cheney-Plaza roads for 56 minutes.

Fire Chief Tom Jenkins echoed this concern as well. The department responded to 61 calls for service south of the tracks in 2017, 74 percent of which were for emergency medical services, a statistic just about the national average, he said.

A full build out in the area is projected to generate an average of 264 calls, given the frequency and the fact the fire department is seeing an annual 4.6 percent increase in calls for service citywide. About 94 percent of calls take place on the north side of the tracks, Jenkins said, but those calls could be impacted by the need to respond to the 6 percent taking place south of the tracks due to trains.

And when it comes to fire and medical emergencies, Jenkins said time is of the essence. Especially fire, which has become more dangerous today thanks to modern construction.

“Before, it would take about 16 minutes (for a building) to become fully involved,” Jenkins said. “The average today is fully involved in 3-4 minutes.”

Jenkins added that complete brain death in a patient experiencing a medical emergency can happen within six minutes.

Both chiefs acknowledged the challenges to emergency service coverage in the city, including challenges arising from budgetary considerations. And while response times statistics from national and regional sources are nice to shoot for, what should be done in Cheney is determining response times appropriate for the city’s unique situations.

“We should probably gauge that on something that makes sense,” Jenkins said.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].