Strategic Priorities
Quality of Life ( QL )
Goal Statement : Foster a safe and welcoming community with access to a wide range of opportunities and amenities The Town continues to invest in maintaining a safe and welcoming community . The Police Department focuses on community policing to enhance relationships between the community and the department . The body worn camera program helps ensure accountability within the department and enhances community trust . The department continues to offer its popular Citizens Police Academy , which provides a unique opportunity for citizens to learn how the police department works , to meet officers who work in the community , and to learn more about what it means to be a police officer in Garner today .
The goal of the academy is to build relationships between officers and the community through better understanding of the officers ’ jobs and functions , while also providing a forum for feedback and improvements . These efforts help keep the Town ’ s crime rate low as reflected by the current property and violent crime statistics .
It is important to understand that while the Town as continued to maintain a low crime rate , calls for service have seen increases over the past few years . In 2023 calls for service decreased slightly to 40,640 , but Incident-based calls have risen by 17 %, during the same time period . Incident-based calls often require multiple resources and extensive investigative work . The Garner Police Department is committed to a rapid response time even with calls for service increasing . In FY23 , the average response time for priority 1 calls was 7.3 minutes .
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