MARTINS FERRY — City dispatchers handled nearly 700 calls in the month of April, according to a report by Police Chief Jerry Murphy.

Murphy provided a breakdown of those calls and of officers’ activities for Martins Ferry City Council at its regular meeting Wednesday. A total of 687 calls were received and processed, with 507 of those calls, or 74%, seeking a police response, 150 calls seeking a response from the fire department of emergency medical services and 30 seeking other city services.

Murphy told council that police conducted 145 complaint investigations and 104 traffic stops and made 24 arrests. Among the investigations were 31 juvenile complaints, five reports of suspicious activity, 16 animal complaints, 19 vehicle accidents, two assaults, one death investigation, one vandalism, three breaking and enterings two runaways/unruly children,12 domestic violence complaints six alarm drops, one non-fatal overdose, four threates or harassment complaints, one psychotic episode and six fights.

In addition, officers served eight warrants, processed 16 criminal cases for prosecution and assisted EMS three times.

According to Murphy, the department has four impounded vehicles, one of which is being processed for forfeiture for abandonment. One vehicle was auctioned and picked up.

He told council that the city collected $925 in impound fees during April and said total auction revenue during March amounted to $2,338.13.

The chief also discussed two ongoing efforts.

“Today I met with the Ohio Department of Homeland Security to conduct aerial mapping of the city (including the school) using an Unmanned Aircraft System,” he reported. “The drone will provide aerial photos to help create accurate maps, better visualization, and manage resources more effectively for disaster management and critical incident management. Additionally, this will aid in situational awareness, emergency management, criminal investigations, criminal apprehensions, event management, and complex area navigation. If anyone looked up and saw the drone, just know that this is what it was doing in our city.”

Second, he said the Martins Ferry City School District would like to continue using city officers for school resource officers.

“Today I spoke with the Martins Ferry school superintendent about obtaining a renewal contract with the city for the SROs for the 2025-2026 school year,” he said. “Under the current contract, the police department provides the school with two SROs, and the school pays 100% of the SROs total agreed upon compensation and required insurance and fringe benefit for the entire school year. In addition, the school pays a 10% administration cost and $200 a month for maintenance and fuel for a police cruiser.”

Later in the meeting, council voted unanimously to allow the department to continue providing resource officers for the schools.