Before any action was taken at Thursday night’s Hopkinsville Committee of the Whole meeting, members were presented with the Hopkinsville Police Department’s Crime and Collision Report which showed a slight increase in 2022 from the previous year.
Police Chief Clayton Sumner said the 4th quarter report, which is also the end-of-the-year report, said there was a 5% increase in overall crime in 2022. He noted the 4th Quarter Focus Four Crime Comparison from October 1 through December 31, 2021-2022 was down.
click to download audioHe pointed out that shoplifting increased by 13% from 2021 to 2022. Out of the 71 shoplifting crimes in the 4th quarter, Chief Sumner said 45 of those are skip scanning. He said they have addressed this issue with Walmart to see if there are some things the store can do to help control this type of shoplifting.
click to download audioChief Sumner added this does have an impact on the overall crime for the city.
In 2022 there were 1,210 total collisions, compared to 996 in 2021, which Chief Sumner noted averaged about 3 collisions a day.
click to download audioThe chief also presented a graph that showed the Yearly Total Reported Crime from 2012 through 2021. The graph showed that the Yearly Total Reported Crime in 2022 was 2,362, compared to 2,232 in 2021. In 2020, however, there were 2,073 total reported crimes which Chief Sumner explained was because everyone was at home.
Following Sumner’s presentation, Steve Keel was elected the chair of the Committee of the Whole and Chuck Crabtree was elected as vice-chair. The committee also elected Councilman Travis Martin as presiding officer of the city council meetings in the mayor’s absence which will go to the city council as a municipal order to be voted on at the next meeting.
In new business, the Committee unanimously voted to forward a Delta Regional Authority EZ Access Grant Transfer as a resolution to the city council. General Manager Derrick Watson of Hopkinsville Water Environment Authority explained the City was awarded a $410,234 DAR grant last year to install some sewer utility for EZ Access on Pembroke Road. He said this resolution would transfer those funds from the City to HWEA to allow them to make draws to pay the contractor for the project.
