The June 2012 winners are: Mike and Judi Standley, 516 Lochwood, Murphy

The Murphy police department is now accepting applications for the ninth class of the Citizen’s Police Academy.

The class will give residents of Murphy the opportunity to observe their police department and the officers who work there. You will be taught by veteran officers in such classes as accident investigation, state law, domestic violence, and firearms.
You will also receive a better understanding of what your police do and how they do their jobs.

The class is FREE and meets each Tuesday from 7pm-10pm beginning March 20, 2012 until May 22, 2012. You must be 18 years old and never been convicted of a felony. You must also be a resident of Murphy.

Applications are available at the police department at 206 N Murphy Rd. M-F 8am-5pm or through email. Applications must be returned to the police department no later than March 9th at 5pm.

Contact: Officer Kris Riebschlager
kriebschlager@murphytx.org
469-752-8614

Collin County Historical Commission &
Murphy Historical Society
February 16, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Murphy City Hall, Room 201

Are you a history buff? Do you know the real story behind the events that have taken place in Collin County? Do you know the real history of the historic sites in Murphy? If so, you have an opportunity to participate in a unique project coordinated by the Collin County Historical Commission.

A Historic Assets Survey project has been initiated to locate and catalog any and all historic sites in the county. The survey is being conducted using the criteria of the National Registry of Historic Places, and Collin County will be the only county in Texas to undertake such a project on a countywide basis.

Data for the historic sites will be collected by volunteers and made available on the County’s web site. Locations will be entered on the county’s GIS Interactive Map and superimposed on aerial mapping visuals to provide the location of each site. By clicking on the site, a visitor will get a specific location by address, GPS or UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) coordinates and an actual view of the site. Many of the sites will also make available links to additional narrative data on the sites. The site may be reached by going directly to: http://maps.collincountytx.gov/historical.html

Potential sites will include cemeteries, buildings, event locations, and other historically significant locations. Volunteers who have an interest in and knowledge of local history are needed to document the places and events that have shaped the county. A committee has been established that will coordinate the findings and document the information. The county has been divided into four quadrants, with the volunteers concentrating on the area in which they live.
If you would be interested in working on this project, you can contact:

Donna Jenkins—CCHC Member
Murphy Historical Commission
donnajenkins1946@att.net
or 972-814-8928??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Chief GM Cox reports the following to his Police Officers regarding statistics for Murphy crime:

The good news is that Part I crimes fell 4.03% in 2011 from 2010. Part I offenses are those defined by the FBI as murder, robbery, aggravated assault, rape, burglary (business and residential), theft (FBI calls it larceny), motor vehicle theft and arson. These offenses are those considered the most serious by the FBI. All other offenses are classified as Part II crimes and are only counted as arrests. This is the 3rd straight year for the crime rate to go down from a high of 172 Part I offenses in 2008 to a low of 143 in 2011. That is a 16.9% drop in Part I crime in 3 years.
The MPD response times continues to be outstanding at just under a minute average. In 2007, the average response time was just over 2 minutes.
Calls have steadily risen from 15,669 in 2007 to almost 40,000 calls in 2011. This is a 154% increase in the number of calls for service in just over 3 years. Just to clarify, Calls for Service include citizen calls for service and Officer initiated calls – traffic stops, etc.
The number of arrests went up by 33.51% from 2010 to 2011. Since 2007, the number of arrests has steadily risen from 200 in 2007 to 490 in 2011. That is about a 145% increase in the number of people arrested in 2007 to 2011.
The number of offense reports written by Officers has increased about 12% since 2007. The Officers of the MPD wrote 691 offense reports in 2011 up 5.98% from 2010 (652). The number of reports referred to the Criminal Investigation division (CID) has gone up by 40%, but the number of personnel assigned to CID has dropped from 3 to 2.
On the down side, however, is the almost 60% increase in the number of traffic accidents from 246 in 2008 to 392 in 2011. Traffic enforcement activity (traffic stops) has increased by 19% from 2010 to 2011. However, the number of traffic citations issued went up by almost 23%. Since 2007, traffic enforcement activity has increased by about 26%.
Family violence calls have risen 105% since 2007 (19). MPD Officers responded to 39 family violence calls in 2011, up 21.88% from 2010 (32).
Overall, the City enjoys a low crime rate. The two most telling statistics are the number of calls for service and the number of traffic accidents. While the real number of family violence calls is small (total of 39 in 2011), that is a large number in terms of family violence for a city of our size.
Congratulations, to you all for the outstanding jobs you have all done in helping reduce reported crime in Murphy. Overall, you should be very proud of what has been accomplished in 2011 and in particular how things have trended since 2007. Overall, the department is doing a lot more work with the same number of officers, or less, that it had in 2007. It takes a team effort to produce the kinds of results you see above. A couple of areas need attention, such as Family Violence calls and Traffic Accidents. On the whole, however, 2011 was an outstanding year for the MPD. We had an overall drop in Part I crimes with an increase in the number of calls handled.

On facebook this am: 1/25/12 Murphy PD

The City of Murphy is under a Flood Warning. Areas around the 100 block of S. Maxwell Creek are in danger of flooding. Please monitor the situation and be prepared to evacuate. Call 9-1-1 if you need assistance.

Caution! Maxwell Creek is overflowing its banks in certain areas throughout the City. Please do not proceed into a flooded area. Seek an alternate route or wait until the water recedes. Exercise extreme caution today and tomorrow.