JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) -At the Jonesboro Public Safety Commission Meeting on Tuesday, Sept 16, the Jonesboro Police Department presented data that showed almost a thousand calls for service were made by the police in the Downtown Jonesboro area within a one-year period.
Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott said Tuesday night that police had 965 calls for service in the entertainment district between September of last year and August of this year.
That is the total number.
While that number may seem like a lot, when looking at the numbers, it tells a different story.
“So, people have got to understand that is not all a bad thing; those are just things that are happening,” said Elliott.
Elliott said those calls can be anything from a simple traffic stop or a parking violation, all the way to a criminal offense; it’s just the total activity in the area.
Looking at the numbers specifically, Elliott said only a very small number was for major offenses.
“We go back and look at that data, 18 of those calls were related to alcohol incidents, and 30 of those were related to drug incidents, and most of those alcohol incidents were beyond the entertainment district working hours,” said Elliott.
Elliott said the largest chunk of the calls was related to traffic incidents.
“We have increased traffic enforcement in the downtown area, not only this year, but in previous years, because of the complaints of speeders and pedestrian safety,” said Elliott. “So, as we try to crack down on speeding enforcement, there are a lot of traffic stops that have taken place downtown.”
Looking at 2025 as a whole, Elliott said they are at 704 calls to action in the downtown area.
So, what does that look like compared to years past?
“But we go back and look at 2024 for the year, we had 952,” said Elliott. “2023, we had 824, 2022, we had 934, and 2021, we had 691, and we were in a Covid year during that timeframe.”
According to data provided by the Jonesboro Police Department’s Office of Crime Analysis and Criminal Intelligence, these are the calls for service in the entertainment district between 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays for the following years:
| Year | Service Calls | Alcohol-Related Calls |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-2022 | 237 | 4 |
| 2022-2023 | 198 | 2 |
| 2023-2024 | 241 | 0 |
| 2024-2025 | 256 | 3 |
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