Springfield Police Superintendent Cheryl C. Clapprood is pleased to share several successes and milestones achieved by the Springfield Police Department in 2022.
In 2022, Springfield Police Officers responded to 261,843 calls for service and made 3187 arrests. In “Targeted NIBRS Numbers[1]” Springfield saw a slight increase in overall crime of 3%. This comes after a historic 2021 which saw the lowest crime statistics the city has recorded since Federal Government began tracking this data in 1995. The overall crime in Springfield, based on “Targeted NIBRS Numbers”, has decreased 6% from five years ago in 2018.
Springfield Police Superintendent Clapprood stated, “We continue to work to modernize the Springfield Police Department and utilize the best practices in law enforcement to keep our citizens and our officers safe. We are encouraged by the continued downward trend in the most serious crimes in our city.
We’ve implemented many strategies city-wide to prevent and deter crime, and the success we’ve seen in decreasing crime rates and increasing firearm seizures are all credit to the thorough and diligent work of Springfield’s Police officers and detectives.”
A total of 314 illegally possessed firearms were seized department-wide last year, including 122 large capacity firearms and 35 “Ghost Guns”. Our Firearms Investigation Unit (FIU) under the direction of Captain Brian Keenan alone seized 155 illegal firearms. The dedicated FIU Detectives did all of this dangerous work without a single excessive force complaint. We saw victims of gun violence decrease by more than 20%.
“The amount of firearms seized has far surpassed any other year we have on record with the Springfield Police Department. Since I announced the creation of the Firearms Investigation Unit in July 2021 their results day in and day out have far exceeded my expectations. By removing these firearms from the street their work and the work of all our officers has undoubtedly saved lives as we saw the number of victims of gun violence decrease by more than 20%,” said Superintendent Clapprood.
Investigations by the Springfield Police Homicide Unit under the direction of Captain Trent Duda led to arrests or arrest warrants issued in 10 of the 14 homicides in the city in 2022. This 71% resolve rate is much higher than the national average which lingers around 50%.
The Springfield Police Department’s Traffic and C3 Units under the direction of Captain David Martin devised a plan to deter illegal dirt bike and ATV riding in our city and it was a success by the significant decrease in incidents and calls for service related to off-highway vehicles. The Traffic Unit also developed strategies to help decrease traffic and pedestrian fatalities in our city which helped reduce the number of fatalities nearly in half.
In June 2020 Superintendent Clapprood instituted the Springfield Police Department’s body-worn camera program. In 2022, officers recorded more than 18,200 hours of footage. The body-worn camera program continues to aid in resolving complaints against officers.
In December the Springfield Police Department held an awards ceremony in which we honored more than 70 officers and five civilians for their heroic and life-saving work throughout the year. Officers were awarded with Purple Hearts, Commendations, Child-Birth and Life-Saving awards.
In April 2019, Superintendent Clapprood outfitted officers with Narcan, the life-saving opioid reversal drug. At the end of 2022 officers have administered 426 doses of Narcan with a positive outcome including 115 in 2022 alone.
In April 2022, the Department of Justice and Springfield Police Department entered into a Settlement Agreement over an DOJ led investigation from 20. Since then under the direction of Captain Brian Beliveau the Department has met every deadline and have begun implementing the agreement’s requirements which included revising the Department’s use-of-force policies.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno states, “I want to commend and praise Police Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood, her leadership team and all of the dedicated men and women of our Springfield Police Department who day-in and day-out continue to serve and protect our residents and businesses. Even with the challenges from the pandemic and the unfortunate revolving door that is our court system with repeat violent criminal offenders being released back into our neighborhoods to hurt and steal from our residents and businesses. Our dedicated Springfield Police Department continues to step up to the challenge. Even before the settlement agreement with the DOJ, under Police Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood leadership numerous policy changes and reforms were taking place including the full implementation of body-worn cameras for all officers; new leadership and training initiatives and programs; a record number of guns taken off our streets – including many ghost guns; continuing to address the opioid crisis with a record number of lives saved through the use of Narcan and automated external defibrillators (AED); and their continued response to address the many daily issues that keep our community safe including the SPD Traffic Division which has taken a proactive approach taking a record number of illegal dirt bikes and ATVs off our streets and our Ordinance Flex Squad that continues to work closely with our Building and Code Department to address numerous quality of life concerns in our neighborhoods.”
FIVE YEAR OVERVIEW
Calls for Service by Year
2022 – 261,843
2021 – 261,129
2020 – 254,852
2019 – 263,782
2018 – 276,212
Arrests by Year
2022 – 3187
2021 – 3180
2020 – 3251
2019 – 4279
2018 – 4565
Crashes by Year (Fatal)
2022 – 5238 (11)
2021 – 5238 (19)
2020 – 4557 (16)
2019 – 5344 (8)
2018 – 5521 (18)
Citations by Year (Includes Written Warnings)
2022 – 14650
2021 – 12488
2020 – 8958
2019 – 17428
2018 – 17227
Homicides by Year
2022 – 14
2021 – 17
2020 – 18
2019 – 20
2018 - 18
[1] “Targeted NIBRS Numbers” include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft. Murders decreased by more than 20% from 2021 and the small spike in crime can be mostly be attributed to increases in shoplifting and car-breaks.