Arcata police log: 24 calls include assault, arrest, vandalism

The Arcata Police Department logged 24 calls for service on Jan. 11, offering a compact snapshot of the city’s public-safety workload and where residents encountered trouble that day. Incidents ranged from routine traffic stops to reports of assault, vandalism and a disturbance at the Arcata Marsh.

Early in the day officers carried out multiple traffic stops and a vehicle investigation on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. Responding crews also handled an animal-detail call after a resident reported a possible skunk in a carport. Several welfare checks were conducted, including one at Meadowbrook Apartments, reflecting continued calls for wellbeing checks in local housing areas.

The log shows a disturbance at Arcata Marsh involving an agitated person reportedly chopping at a tree with a possible weapon. That call was among the more serious public-safety responses and highlights pressures on parks and open-space areas that are frequently used by residents and visitors. Officers also responded to an assault reported on Spear Avenue where the reporting party requested prosecution, underscoring community expectations around formal accountability.

Property-crime reports included vandalism on Coombs Court and a petty-theft at Safeway where a backpack was reported taken. A reported stolen vehicle was later listed as unfounded in the department’s disposition notes. A municipal-code citation was issued in the 700 block of F Street, signaling the department’s role in enforcing local ordinances as well as state law.

Arcata Plaza drew police attention twice: a reported fight there could not be located on arrival, and several drunk-in-public calls occurred across the day, one of which resulted in an arrest. The log lists varied dispositions—many entries recorded as CAD documentation only, some resulting in arrest, and others deemed unfounded—illustrating the mix of calls that make up a single day’s work for the department.

For residents, the log is a reminder that public-safety demands are both predictable and varied: traffic enforcement, public-intoxication incidents, welfare checks and property crimes all require officer time and resources. Patterns such as multiple welfare checks and repeated drunk-in-public calls can inform neighborhood-level solutions, from community outreach to targeted enforcement or service referrals.

Our two cents? Keep an eye on hot spots such as the Plaza, F Street and the Marsh; report concerns through the non-emergency police line and bring recurring problems to community meetings so solutions match the neighborhood. That civic follow-through helps turn a daily log of calls into lasting public-safety improvements.