The New Year has started and we would like to take the time to talk about some ways to keep you and your family safe.  Some of the programs we will mention are currently in place and others are new ones coming in the near future, but we hope that all of them will help enhance your safety this year.

Solving crime is our business and we have numerous ways you can report information to us including over the phone and the internet.  About two years ago we added the ability to send anonymous texts through our text-a-tip program.  Individuals may send an anonymous tip to CRIMES (274637) with the keyword BNPD in the body of the text.  Using this program encourages people to come forward if they have information about a crime and it allows us to help them.

Smart911 is another program that is offered to the entire state of Arkansas free of charge.  By signing up for the Smart911 system you can convey useful information to first responders (fire, police, and medical) that you feel they should be aware of such a medical conditions or special instructions on how to reach emergency contacts.  The system is only available for a 45 minute window in the event you dial 911 and your profile is valid anywhere in the state.  You can sign up by going to www.smart911.com

On 1/24/13, at approximately 7:45 AM, officers with the Benton Police Department responded to 421 Richards St. on report of an unresponsive individual.

Upon their arrival it was determined the resident, Charles Matthews (W/M, 49 YOA), was found in the home deceased.  This is an on-going investigation and there is no foul play suspected in the case at this time.

The Benton Police Department would like to warn citizen’s about the potential dangers of online buying and selling.  Two reports were recently taken where suspects attempted to scam people out of money involving the online sale site Craigslist.

In one of the incidents the seller was attempting to sell clothing on Craigslist and was contacted by a potential ‘buyer’ about their item.  The ‘buyer’ agreed to send the seller a check in the mail and when the seller received it she noticed the check was for $1,920.00, although the dress was only $300.  The ‘buyer’ asked her to keep the $300 for the dress and send the rest back to them, but thankfully the seller took the time to check with her bank about the check.

It turned out the bank account the check was written from had insufficient funds which would have caused the seller to be responsible for the money.  After the seller contacted the suspect, the suspect became very angry and threatened them.  No further contact has been made between them and attempts to locate the suspect are under investigation.

The Benton Police Department began 2012 to achieve ten goals. Eight of those goals were accomplished and the two remaining are in progress.  In addition to these goals the following are reported:

• Communications Improvements- Supervision of the Communications center has been restructured. Dispatch equipment and software has been upgraded. Operators answered 49,599 calls for service in 2012, 37242 calls were for the  Benton Police Department

• Statistics - Reporting of the NIBRS crime statistics showed violent crime in the City of Benton, up + 15.9% and property crime reports down -0.70%. The NIBRS reporting covers all the crime categories, and showed a total increase of crime in the City of Benton in 2012 up by + 0.39% compared to 2011 totals.

• Training -The Benton Police officers completed 9305 training hours. Supervisors received a total of 985 hours of supervision training.