Highlands’ first responders shared statistics from 2023. While overall crime was lower on the police front, the fire department responded to more calls than in 2022.
Highlanders may be reassured to know overall crime statistics were down in 2023. The Highlands Police Department conveyed 87 responses in 2022 compared with 73 in 2023 to The Highlander. Nancy Forrester, administrative assistant with Highlands PD, said there were a total of 100 crimes in 2022 and 85 in 2023.
While nearly all crimes reported decreased, drug charges and aggravated assaults increased, although not significantly.
The police department had one drug charge in 2022 compared to 11 in 2023. The police department said this covered five drug-related incidents with multiple charges. Aggravated assaults rose from zero reported in 2022 to one reported in 2023.
The fire department, however, had increased responses. They responded to 730 total calls in 2023 compared with 683 in 2022.
Rescue and Emergency Medical Services accounted for the most responses, standing at 306 responses or nearly 42 percent of total responses. These include vehicle accidents or assisting Macon County EMS. Nearly 230 of these calls were in the form of assisting other first responders or medical assists.
Following rescue and EMS responses were good intent calls with 142 responses, or nearly 19.5 percent, and false alarms with 132 responses, or just over 18 percent. Assistant Fire Chief Robbie Forester said good intent calls are typically non-emergency. They include things like “dispatches canceled en route, authorized burns, nothing found at the location, and smoke scares,” Forester said. “They’re mostly investigations or things where nothing is apparent.”
Service calls, or non-emergency assistance such as vehicle unlocks, clearing out smoke in houses, assisting with traffic, and even ring or jewelry removals in case of broken fingers, made up 81 calls for 11 percent of responses.
Fires, hazardous conditions, ruptures or explosions with no fire accounted for respectively 17 responses, 41 responses, and one response. Combined, these make up over eight percent of calls.