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The West Point Police Department recently released its crime statistics for fiscal year 2024, noting that in the first and third quarter, crimes like murder, robberies and assaults were down by 30-40 percent from the previous year.

Despite the police department being short-staffed for much of 2024, the department saw an overall decrease in crimes. West Point Chief of Police Kevin Carter said the department now has a larger crew of dedicated officers.

“We were very, very short-staffed, and now we have a God-given crew,” Carter said. “We’re still short-handed, but the officers that we have are there because they want to be there, and they’re there to make a difference. They’re proactive. All the credit goes to them. And God, of course.”

In the third quarter of the year, the department saw a 30 percent decrease in total crimes like murder, theft, assault and robbery from the previous year with only 23 cases reported. Throughout the last three quarters, aggravated assaults were down by 44-66 percent from the previous year.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the city only had 16 total cases in the following categories, which is a 43 percent decrease from 2023. The following shows the number of cases per crime for all four quarters:

4 Murder 0

4 Rape 3

4 Burglary  14

4 Robbery 3

4 Aggravated assaults 18

4 Thefts 55

As for arrests, traffic and service calls such as accident reports, the city had the following cases throughout the year:

4 Total calls for service: 981

4 Accident reports: 262

4 Traffic citations issued: 1,419

4 Traffic warnings issued: 503

4 Adult arrests: 233

4 Juvenile arrests/complaints: 14

In the second quarter, total service calls went up by 40 percent; however, in the fourth quarter, accident reports dropped by 60 percent. Citations issued rose by 45 percent and warnings by 84 percent in the second quarter as well.

The full crime statistics report has been posted on the West Point Police Department’s Facebook page.

This year, Carter said the department has spent time working to solve a cold case murder from November of 2022. At the time, the department had only one investigator.

Since then, Carter said the department has utilized state and nationwide law enforcement resources.

Moving forward in 2025, Carter said he is hopeful of seeing that case closed.

“I have more than high hopes that my community will have an answer, that family will have an answer, within the next year,” Carter said.

Though he said the department is still not where he wants it to be, he hopes to continue building trust and working with the community, not against it.

“We need the public. We need the community more than they understand and we’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re getting there,” Carter said.

Earlier this year, the West Point Police Department participated in the National Night Out, an event that invites the public to come out and enjoy music, games and food with local law enforcement.

The department also hosted its fall festival again this year.

The goal for both events is to help build connections between officers and those they serve. Carter said he has seen more public engagement than in many years.

Of the new officers to the department, Carter said they are integrating into the community well. He said, “The community has been great with them. They’re in the community.”

In the coming year, Carter said he hopes to initiate a citizens review board, where the public is invited to pose questions and concerns to the police department.

“It will give the citizens of West Point a voice. it’ll give them an opportunity to come to the table with us and express their concerns and ask their questions [like] you know, ‘Why was this done this way and not that way?’” Carter explained. “It’s kind of an open dialogue because not everybody understands what we do, the way we do it.”