LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – New numbers show Little Rock Police officers are responding to calls faster compared to previous years.
“Being data lead, we know where our numbers are showing [where] we are having more disturbances, more shots fired things of that number,” says Little Rock Police Department Officer Eric Barnes.
From the time someone calls 911 to that information being sent to officers is faster.
For non-priority calls, like traffic or noise complaints, it took on average in 2017 across the city about 15 minutes for those calls to be sent to officers. New data reveals it now takes about nine minutes.
Officers are getting to those scenes faster once they receive the call. Citywide, it took about seven minutes in 2017, that’s reduced to about six minutes.
“Our Crime Analysis will review those numbers. If we need to be in different areas, call load situations and that helps whenever an officer is assigned to a district that keeps them closer in proximity to those calls,” says Officer Barnes.
Officer Barnes credits several things for the improved numbers.
He says one big factor: there are more officers on the streets.
“Whenever we switched to 12 hour shifts, it put more bodies on the street and as we continue to recruit and have more classes — it definitely puts more bodies out on the street and in return it gives us more cars and more people in those areas to lower those times,” says Officer Barnes.
It takes the city’s Northwest Division longer to get to calls than other areas like Southwest or 12th Street divisions.
Officer Barnes says that’s because Northwest is so large. They say you could put the entire city of North Little Rock into that division.
