Fire and Police chiefs present annual update to councilmembers

Allyson Dix 

Jobe Publishing, Inc. 

 

Both chiefs for the Glasgow Fire and Police Departments gave an annual presentation to the city council members last week where both highlighted they have or will soon be losing a lot of years of experience with retirees. 

 Fire Chief William Rock, who presented his first annual presentation since becoming chief, said the department just lost over a 100-years combined experience following the recent retirements of five firefighters. Those include Captain Barry Dunbar, Chief Derek Rogers, Captain Kiley Jackson, Chief Adam Maulden, and Lieutenant Kevin Poynter. 

Rock said three new firefighters have already taken the place of some of the retirees with three new ones scheduled to start in a few weeks. 

In July, the department should be 100% staffed upon new recruits completing their training, and Rock plans to promote a Battalion Chief and subsequently fill positions, Rock said. 

“It will put you all in a really good position as a city,” Rock said. 

The chief highlighted all the tasks the fire department has responded to in the prior year. Those included 45 fires, 363 rescue/emergency medical incidents, 153 false alarms/calls, 314 service calls, and 45 good intent calls where calls come in that were canceled en route. The department also completes building inspections for businesses as well as numerous other tasks such as hosting state fire and rescue training classes and fire hose/hydrant inspections across the city. 

The Glasgow Police Chief, Jennifer Arbogast, is currently facilitating an ordinance for false alarm calls that would help reduce the number of calls the fire department receives that are often caused by individuals pulling fire alarms for jokes or alarm system malfunctions, Rock said. 

“It’s not so much about the money,” Rock said, “But when you add money to these things, people fix their systems, which actually helps the whole process.” 

Rock said the current overall age of the department is 33 years old, down from age 36 four years ago. He also said the overall average years of experience in 2018 was 9 years compared to 7 years currently. With two firefighters leaving next year, Rock projected that within three years, the overall average age will drop again to 31 with an average of 5 years experience. 

Rock told councilmembers that he wants them to understand that anytime he asks for money, it is purely for what his department needs and nothing more. With a damaged economy, he understands that may prove difficult in the near future. 

Regarding the police department, Arbogast discussed goals the department met including the groundbreaking that has already happened for a new maintenance garage. 

 Arbogast highlighted the present staffing issues and explained while the numbers look good on paper at 100% staff, she’d like to see the addition of three more officers for a total of 40 officers. 

 When the department has to transport individuals, Arbogast said this ties up an officer three to four hours and even more if a transport requires longer driving distances. With only three to four officers on the streets, this can cause a reduction in available officers to respond to other situations. 

She anticipates three to four officers will retire in the next five years and echoed Rock’s decline to a younger fleet. Of course, that reduces the years of experience as well. 

“We are young, but we keep on trucking,” Arbogast said, “We still get the same training and we do try to hold on to the ones that have more years experience so they can teach others.” 

Arbogast said the department receives around 2,000 calls per month. She also noted there is an increase in domestic calls and drug overdoses. The chief said in the prior year, 36,000 calls were received with an increase in felonies (581) and misdemeanors (608). 

The police chief also commended the officers and said the department receives a lot of calls for compliments in the way officers respond to situations with compassion and integrity. 

Arbogast also said the officers have a great working relationship with the local school resource officers.