More arrests, but far fewer citations and calls for GPD

The Greybull Police Department made more arrests, but responded to fewer calls and issued fewer citations last year than it did in 2022, according to a year-end report prepared by Chief Ken Blosser.

The report documented 43 arrests, a slight increase from 2022’s total of 34.  Last year’s included seven DUI arrests and six drug-related arrests.   In 2021, the department made 54 arrests, and between 2016 and 2022, it averaged 66 arrests.

The number of case files opened also increased, climbing to 139 last year from 128 the previous year.

Officers responded to 2,958 calls for service last year, down from 3,443 the previous year, and wrote about half the number of citations — 154 compared to 303 in 2022.

When asked about the numbers, Blosser said the calls for service figure was lower because the GPD received fewer domestic disturbance complaints.

Citations were down, he said, because “officers are being more selective in how they do things,” which in turn led to the increase in arrests. In addition, he said the department’s most prolific writer of citations, Mark Rutkowski, spent three months of the year at academy.

The GPD operated with five officers in 2023, one fewer than the six that were authorized at the end of the tenure of former Chief Bill Brenner.

Blosser said he did not issue as many citations either, because as chief, he isn’t on the road as much.

“I think overall, the trends we see are pretty steady,” he said, summarizing the year-end report. “Drugs are still a problem. We’re trying to get a handle on that. We know where they are. We have made some headway with DCI and will be working a lot more with them in the months to come.”