"EPD officers made approximately 3,565 arrests between January 1 – December 31, 2017"

What EPD Chief Steve Watson says below applies to HCSO and any law enforcement agency.

"Over the years, I've found that many people naturally tend to assume if they don't read about an arrest or investigation via press releases, social media, or other news media outlets, then it didn't happen. "



"The reality is the Eureka Police Department (like many other "high volume" law enforcement agencies) typically only releases information about selected cases of interest."



"We are a very busy agency, arguably the busiest in our county if not the region per capita, and we simply don't have the time, resources or inclination to proactively report about everything that happens here."

"However, our officers are are working hard for you everyday though most of their efforts go unrecognized outside of the department."

"For example, while reviewing our Watch Commander's Daily Report from yesterday I noted one of our Patrol officers seized two firearms in four days from suspects resulting in multiple felony arrests. "

"Yesterday, following a half-day training course on basic building search and entry tactics, a team of EPD officers conducted a high visibility, proactive operation to find and enforce relevant Eureka Municipal Code and California Penal Code violations. "

"Officers also scoured the City to locate and return stolen shopping carts (around a dozen carts across the city were collected)--a source of frequent complaints to the City and police department. "

"I'll close with this bit of information:  EPD officers made approximately 3,565 arrests between January 1 – December 31, 2017 per a quick check by our Records Manager today. "