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Ely police made fewer traffic stops in 2024, which was the main contributor to an overall decline in police activity for the calendar year.
Overall, Ely police were involved in 2,263 incidents last year, according to an annual report delivered to the city council Tuesday by chief Chad Houde.
That compares to 2,483 incidents in 2023, with the decline correlating in large part to fewer traffic stops. Those numbers tumbled from 363 to 233.
Data from St. Louis County’s 911 dispatch was used to put together the report.
While there was a roughly 10 percent decline in overall police calls, the numbers are comparable to where they were in 2022, when there were 2,226 incidents. Other totals in recent years included 2,392 incidents in 2021 and 2,347 in 2020.
A three-year comparison of traffic stops showed 233 last year, with 363 the year before and 269 in 2022.
Medical emergencies make up the largest number of police incidents in Ely, with 239 reported in 2024.
Traffic stops were next with 233 and public assist calls were in third place at 134.
Paper service went up substantially last year, with Ely officers called 106 times to deliver legal papers, up from 73 the year before, Checks of welfare of individuals ranked fifth at 95, while animal disturbance calls at 81, down from 97 the year before.
Disturbances ranked seventh with 72, while rounding out the top 10 were property cases (55) initial crime reports (50) and suspicious activity (49).
Police also dealt with 41 reports of damage to property, 31 reports of child neglect, 29 fraud reports, 19 reported thefts, 17 reports of harassment, 17 threats, 12 domestic incidents, six assaults, six cases of shoplifting, two cases of criminal sexual conduct, two missing person and two reports of a cyber/computer crime.
