William Rock, Glasgow Fire chief, and Jennifer Arbogast, Glasgow Police chief, provided updates and outlooks on their departments at the Glasgow City Council’s regular meeting on Monday, June 13, 2022.
(PHOTOS: BRENNAN CRAIN/WCLU NEWS)
STORY BY ANGELA BRIGGS, special to WCLU News
GLASGOW — As retirements continue, young first responders need a reason to stay.
Fire Chief William Rock and Police Chief Jennifer Arbogast gave their annual presentations to the Glasgow Council Monday evening. The two reflected on trends and outlooks in their departments.
Rock described how firefighters are not in the profession for money. Instead, they do it because they love it, he said.
Councilmember Terry Bunnell asked about the chief’s concerns over the next three to five years, which are hard to tell since more firefighters are likely to leave. Rock said he struggles to understand how money is allotted to the department.
“I’m not asking for more than I need, and I trust that y’all see that.”
The Glasgow Fire Department has had five employees to retire throughout the past year, which is a combined loss of over 100 years of experience. New firefighters have been hired, and some are working while others will begin the first week of July.
The fire department responded to 45 fires and 363 rescue calls and emergency medical service calls – including vehicle accidents. They responded to 314 service calls, which typically means someone is in distress.
“So many times, the person you go to help is not the one that’s in bad shape,” he said. “It’s the spouse who’s tried for an hour and a half to get them up because they didn’t want to call us. It’s heartbreaking when you get there. That’s not what we want.”
Fire crews also responded to 153 false alarms or false calls, which sometime happen with faulty alarm systems or fire alarm pranks. And local officials are working to crack down on the issue.
Glasgow Police is working with the fire chief to develop an ordinance, which would become a law and require alarm owners to repair their systems or pay fines.
The department conducted 139 fire inspections, answered 45 good intent – those called off while crews are enroute to a scene – and completed 1266 hours of in-house instruction.
Chief Rock thanked the city and the council for their support since he was appointed chief. He has over 20 years of experience fighting fires in Glasgow and Barren County.
On the law enforcement side, Arbogast detailed staffing trends. Mainly, police officers in Glasgow are either young or about to retire.
“I’m sitting in the same situation as Chief Rock. We’re young. But that’s OK,” she said. “We still get the same training. We do try to hold onto the ones that have more years of experience so they can teach others.”
A school resource officer is located within every city school, she said.
Council member Chasity Lowery, a teacher at Glasgow Middle School, praised their resource officer and thanked the department for the support. Alongside providing security, the resource officers can build positive relationships with students.
“If these school resource officers are not there for a day or something, these kids want to know where they’re at,” Arbogast said.
The police department charged people with 501 felonies and 608 misdemeanors. Domestic incidents, overdoses and drug arrests were also elevated. The chief said additional training could help the department address these concerns.
