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Police present new crime-reporting metrics; city details sewer rupture response and public notifications

Rathdrum City Council · December 11, 2025

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Summary

Rathdrum police presented new month-over-month and year-to-date crime statistics showing theft as the primary Part 1 crime and 42 K9 deployment requests; public works described a recent sewer rupture reported to DEQ and the city's media and reverse-911 notification efforts.

The police chief presented a redesigned monthly report showing five-year trends from the department’s Spillman data, highlighted 42 K9 "Liberty" deployment requests (27 deployments), and said theft is the primary Part 1 crime concern for the city. The chief reported one new officer has been hired and will start at the end of the month; vacancies remain and several candidates are in background checks. The department reported a year-to-date 44% increase in warrant arrests and emphasized that data from a prior Post Falls system hack complicates comparisons for some state submissions.

Council members requested additional breakdowns the department can provide in future reports, including traffic-stop outcomes, citation speed ranges and asterisks for months with grant-driven overtime that inflate proactive activity. The chief agreed to incorporate trend lines, mapping and clearer annotations to identify grant-funded activity.

Public works staff described a recent sewer rupture that was reported to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Staff said the city responded with pump trucks, requests for emergency assistance from utility partners, targeted door-to-door notifications to directly affected upstream properties and postings on the city website and social media. Staff also attempted reverse-911/text alerts via Kootenai County Emergency Management but said the reach was limited to subscribers; they noted difficulties extracting up-to-date mobile numbers from utility billing records, which slowed outreach to some customers. As of the meeting, staff had sent the DEQ a comprehensive incident summary and were awaiting response on remediation requirements and likely costs.

What's next: police will refine monthly reports with requested detail and mapping; public works will await DEQ guidance, obtain contractor estimates for remediation, and continue to refine public-notification procedures.