By Gerri Miller
Staff Writer
The biggest issues for Prattville Police Department during Gov. Kay Ivey’s stay-at-home order have been domestic violence and mental health, PPD Chief Mark Thompson said Friday.
For March and April, domestic violence calls increased while traffic citations and wrecks decreased, Chief Thompson said. The city’s overall crime rate decreased.
Overall, there were 2697 service calls in March and April 2020 compared to 3,566 calls during the same time last year.
There were 460 domestic abuse calls combined for March and April 2020 compared with 396 during the same months last year. Chief Thompson attributed the increase to more people staying at home together for longer periods.
“People have been around each other a lot more while they are homebound,” Chief Thompson. “There is a lot more pressure and stress with people insecure about their jobs and their health. The stress leads to more arguments that escalate to us getting involved.”
Traffic citations and wrecks have decreased dramatically during the health crisis. In March and April of 2019, there were 1,111 traffic citations compared with only 325 written that time this year. There were 255 wrecks during March and April of 2019 while there were only 119 this year.
“This shows people are obeying the Governor’s orders and staying at home,” Chief Thompson said. Thompson said the police did have trouble at first with people mostly out after curfew and this is still a problem when it comes to DUI and drug arrests.
“Most of the arrests we make of people out after curfew have been for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” Thompson said.
Burglaries have stayed the same with fourteen for March and April and the same number last year. Theft of property has gone down with 149 for March and April of 2019 and only 102 for that time in 2020. He said the police department is not working any homicide cases for that period.
Thompson said his office has taken a lot of calls from people with questions about who they need to call about jobs as well as calls from businesses needing directives on the stay-at-home order. He said they have only had two businesses that were uncooperative and most worked with the department to obey the orders.
“We understand that small businesses are an important part of Prattville and we have worked with them wherever we could,” he said. He said the city’s business community has in turn supported the department in many ways.
“We have had businesses cook for us. Yesterday we had two businesses deliver Boston butts to us,” he said. “They have provided safety equipment, food and drinks.” Citizens have made the officers masks and brought them hand sanitizer and other products.
“The community has really supported us as much as we’ve supported them,” he said. “That’s what makes Prattville special.”
Thompson said having proper safety equipment such as masks is essential in situations such as last week’s drug raid on what is called The Farm in Prattville. Officers arrested 13 people there on a variety of drug and theft charges.
“We’ve been fortunate that no one has gotten sick, but common sense tells you that we are always around just about anything the human body can throw at us,” he said.
Thompson said one way the department has worked to reduce the spread of the virus is eliminating roll calls. Officers now report straight to their districts and the information they need for the day is sent to their computers.
“This virus is just something we are coping with, but we aren’t going to let it keep us from enforcing the law,” he said.
On Friday Gov. Ivey loosened restrictions, allowing limited operations of restaurants, hair and nail salons, and gyms. The changes are effective Monday.
Restaurants, bars, and breweries may reopen if they limit the party size to no more than eight people and maintain at least six feet between people seated at different tables, booths, chairs, and stools. Self-service by guests at drink stations, buffets or salad bars is prohibited.
Non-work-related gatherings of any size that cannot maintain a six-foot distance between people from different households are prohibited. Gov. Ivey urged churches to consult the Alabama Department of Public Health’s “Guidelines for Places of Worship” for more information on how to stay within the guidelines.
