Duluth crime is down, overdoses are up — and the Police Department is short-staffed

DULUTH — Overall crime in this city is down, opioid overdoses are up and the Duluth Police Department continues to rebuild after a historic level of retirements and resignations.

"2022 has been marked as success, transitions and challenges for the Duluth Police Department," Police Chief Mike Ceynowa said Thursday morning during a year-end status report delivered at the Public Safety Building.

When Ceynowa took over the department last October, he said his first priority was stabilizing the short-staffed department, which is meant to carry 158 sworn officers. Twenty-seven officers and civilian employees left in 2022, and six of the nine lieutenants serving under Ceynowa have been in their jobs for less than a year.

The department has begun to rebuild, Ceynowa said, and will continue to recruit this year — including pushing to interest local candidates. Eight new officers are in field training and will be ready for solo patrol in April — soon after 12 other officers are sworn in in March. Another round of hiring will begin around the same time.

Other public safety issues the department faces include opioid overdoses, reconnection with the community and an ongoing racial bias audit that will conclude at the end of the year.

"It's important to us — it's important to me — that our community knows some of the activities that we're up to, some of the activities we're up to, some of the progress we're seeing, the increase in safety and security we're seeing across the community and still balancing whether there is a perception we can still build from and build toward," Mayor Emily Larson said at the news conference.

Crimes down, overdoses up

The Police Department reported an increase of 1,500 total calls for service in 2022, but Ceynowa said this marks an uptick in proactive policing. Officers are using data and connections within the community to monitor specific areas which Ceynowa said is directly related to a sharp decline in crime.

Violent crime incidents — murder, rape and assault, which are labeled Part A crimes — were down 1,629 from 2021. Lesser crimes — frequently property crimes and labeled Part B crimes — decreased by 338.

Shootings and reports of shots-fired were up from 28 in 2021 to 41 in 2022. Ceynowa attributed some of the increase to self-inflicted accidental shootings and suicides.

Opioid overdoses continued to increase, but there was just one more death in 2022 than in the previous year, which Ceynowa called a "glimmer of hope." There were 145 overdoses from July to September and 89 in the past three months.

"We continue to see increases in Narcan saves, which means a person suffering from opioid addiction has another chance at recovering." said Ceynowa, referencing a medicine that can reverse the effects of an opioid.

He said the department's mental health and substance abuse teams would be joining together under a single entity focused on behavioral health.

What's ahead

The final results of a racial bias audit the Police Department is conducting with the Boston-based nonprofit Crime and Justice Institute are expected to be released by year's end,

Ceynowa said he is hopeful that the department will come away with strategies for connecting with Black, Indigenous and people of color, and recruiting diverse officer candidates, as well as a better understanding of the its impact on the community. Monthly updates are available on the Duluth Police Department's website.

"I'm hoping 2023 gives way to a restart where groups are truly able to come together and meet face to face," Ceynowa said. "As an agency, we want to engage the community. It's important that we rebuild relationships lost during the pandemic and meet with groups that formed or changed during."