Traffic stops down dramatically

By Robert Williams

Editor

Frazee Police Chief Tyler Trieglaff presented the annual breakdown of calls for service for the Frazee Police Department to the city council at the January 25 meeting at the Event Center.

The report reflected positively on less calls. For instance, traffic calls were nearly cut in half to prior years. The pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 skewed recent numbers. A comparison to three years ago showed a distinct decrease.

“The numbers are a bit lower than 2019 (1,506), I’m assuming due less people being out and about due to the stupid virus,” Trieglaff said. “Or, maybe we are doing such a wonderful job at the police department that people that cause the most trouble don’t want to come to Frazee.”  

The variety of calls that people read about each week are tallied for 2022 below. Most of these calls are self-explanatory, but Trieglaff provided explanations of a few commonly-used acronyms.

Court Order Violations deal with Harassment Restraining Orders (HRO), Orders for Protection (OFP) and Domestic Abuse No Contact Order (DANCO). 

“All of these orders are signed by a judge barring one person from having contact with another or others,” Trieglaff said. “The difference between the three is the severity of the issue between the two parties. HRO’s are usually for someone bothering a neighbor or family member, for example. Usually non-violent and involving some people not really getting along. An OFP is signed when there is more of a threat to one of the parties. This can be a result of abuse in the past or present where the two parties need to be kept apart from each other for safety reasons. A DANCO is put into place when there has been a recent investigation and one person is being charged with a crime. The judge signs this order to protect the victim of a crime. These court order violations only go one way. The petitioner files with the court and the paper is served to the respondent. The respondent will have to file their own HRO if they feel they are being harassed.”

Crimes Against Families is a large call number for the Frazee Police Department. 

“These calls usually involve children’s welfare and also the welfare of adults, mostly those listed as vulnerable adults,” said Trieglaff.

The Frazee Police Department works very closely with Becker County Human Services (Child Protection) on these cases. All of the cases are cross-reported with Human Services and Frazee police assist on home visits and initiate a criminal investigation when needed.  

Civil Complaints can involve people not getting along and disputing the custody of their children, or people who share property and cannot decide who gets what in a break up. Most times the officer does not make a decision as to who gets what, as this is a civil matter, not a criminal. If the issue cannot be handled civilly, the respective parties need to take matters in front of a judge and let the courts decide.  

Officer Detail is sort of a miscellaneous call group with things varying from gas drive-offs to giving someone a ride home to having to break into someone’s home because they left their keys inside.  

Welfare Checks are basically checking up on people that someone either has not heard from in some time or dealing with someone that is not in their right place according to the caller. These calls can lead to helping someone who is lost, someone who is having a mental crisis, or even finding a deceased person. Some of these calls can be very basic while some can be very unpredictable.

Suspicious Activity calls can be very basic, but can be very dangerous too. A report of a vehicle at a park can just be two young people “talking in the backseat.” It can also be a person with a felony warrant who does not want to go back to prison and has several weapons with them.  One never knows what the call is going to be when it comes out.  

Trieglaff will be breaking down more specifics in relation to calls in the coming weeks. 

“I have described a few of the calls in more detail that we handle on a weekly basis,” he said. “If you have any questions about the calls please feel free to email me at tyler.trieglaff@frazeecity.com.”

Police calls 2022

Agency Calls

Audubon PD 76

Callaway PD 508

Lake Park PD 446

Frazee PD 1,156 (3.16 per day)

Detroit Lakes PD 8,916

Becker County S.O. 9,596

Frazee PD calls received/responded to

911 Hang Up 13   

Alarm Related 27

Animal Related 63

Assault 11

Assist 45

Assist Other Agency 23

Attempt to Locate 5

Burglary 3

Crimes Against Family 28

City Ordinance Violation 43

Civil Complaint 22

Court Order Violation 23

Civil Process 5

Death 1 

Disorderly Conduct 12

Disturbance 64

Domestic 20

Drug Related 5

Extra Patrol Request 6

Fire Calls 11

Fireworks 3

Fraud 10

Funeral Escort 1

Harassment 19

Haz Mat 5

Information Only 31

Juvenile Misc. 34

Liquor Violation 3

Medical 96

Missing/Lost Person 6

Motor Vehicle Crash 35

Motor Vehicle Theft 7

Noise Complaint 13

Overdose 1

Officer Detail 23

Parking Complaint 26

Offender Registration 3

Lost/Found Property 22

Property Damage 16 

Pursuit 1

Runaway 6

Shots Fired Call 1

Suicide Related 15

Suspicious Activity 73

Theft 25

Threats 12

Trespass 8

Traffic Complaint 53

Traffic Stop 79

Vandalism 7

Motorist Assist 10

Vehicle Unlock 26

Recovered Vehicle 1

Warrant Arrest 5

Warrant Attempt 13

Search Warrant 1

Weapon Violation 1

Welfare Check 53

Editor’s note: Frazee Police Chief Tyler Trieglaff contributed to this article