HUBBARD TOWNSHIP — Trustees and residents gained an idea of how the police department closed out 2025, thanks to a report prepared by its police chief.

At last week’s reorganization meeting, police Sgt. Michael Orr, sitting in for Chief Brenda Freeman, read her department’s report to close out December, explaining that calls that month were up from November — 357 compared to 273.

However, the department’s total calls between 2024 and 2025 were down, according to Orr, going from 3,860 in 2024 to 3,775 last year.

The area experiencing the biggest disparity, however, was the number of traffic stops performed by officers — 552 in 2025 to 202 in 2024.

“Granted, that number is high because we put additional manpower on the road. We got more officers out there, doing traffic stops and being vigilant on the roadways and getting things done,” Orr said.

Orr said Freeman was in the process of getting the police department recertified with the Ohio Collaborative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to continuing professionalism and innovation, and improving the relationship of police and communities by working together with the public and other law enforcement associations across the state.

Orr said the organization requires proof of continuous compliance for standards that the police department is certified in, naming recruitment, hiring, community engagement and crisis intervention as some of the required aspects.

“If we’re not compliant with this, we are not eligible to receive any type of grants,” Orr said. “We have to stay (compliant) — the state mandated that for us, so if we don’t do this, we get no grant money,

Orr credited former Sgt. Ron Reed for helping the department meet the requirements last year after not being compliant for the previous several years, adding that it should be “pretty easy” for 2026.

On the department’s equipment side, Orr reported the department has been restocking the cruisers with latex gloves, evidence gloves and emergency blankets.

“We did have the fire extinguishers — which we have not had fire extinguishers in our cruisers for quite a while — we had those refilled, certified and we had all the brackets,” Orr said. “I commissioned Officer (George) Stamos, since he has a mechanic background, to install the fire extinguishers in every cruiser, so that has been done, and done very quickly.”