HUTTO, Texas -- A growing population and new leadership have caused a transformation at the Hutto Police Department.
It's been a little more than a year since Hutto Police Chief Byron Frankland started calling the Central Texas town home.
"We've been very busy for the last year," said Frankland.
That's an understatement.
According to Frankland, they've added 14 positions to the 45 person team, and received a record number of calls for service -- more than 30,000.
"We've added patrol officers to help with the call volume that's come in," said Frankland.
With more officers, Frankland said they've reduced home burglaries by more than 40 percent.
The department added it's first K-9 team, and a narcotics street crimes unit. According to Frankland, it's the first time the department has had officers to specifically investigate these cases.
"We're seeing an increase in trafficking come up State Highway 130," said Frankland.
He also said it's the first time for a crime scene investigation unit, or CSI.
"Beforehand, each officer was responsible for processing their own crime scene," said Frankland.
Now, the chief said they have specially trained officers who gather evidence from the scene.
"It gives us good physical evidence of putting someone at the crime, or how the crime actually unfolded," said Frankland.
With the new tactics, Frankland said their clearance rates, or times they've arrested someone for a crime, have improved.
According to the city, In 2016 they had 65 percent for property crimes and 94 percent for assaults.
In 2017, that number went up to 68 percent for property crimes and 98 percent for assaults.
Frankland doesn't want the numbers to stop there.
With more growth on the way, including a new amphitheater and the new Co-Op downtown entertainment district, Frankland hopes to add even more officers.
"We are going to try to stay ahead of the curve so we're not playing catch up," said Frankland. "The city is continually growing, and we're trying to stay ahead of that curve, I eventually see us being one of the larger departments in the area."
The department will launch a traffic division in June.
"Traffic flow in the morning is another major issue, especially when you have people going to work, kids are going to school, and everybody's on the road at once," said Frankland. "By creating that, hopefully we'll be able to alleviate some of those issues that we're having."
He also hopes to eventually add a unit to specialize in family services, like domestic violence, as well as a burglary task force.
"We're going to stay ahead of that curve by creating different divisions and adding more officers to the street," said Frankland.
But as for this week, they're honoring National Police Week, a time to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. In Hutto, it's personal. Sergeant Chris Kelley died in the line of duty in the summer of 2015.
Frankland said the community shows their support all the time.
"It's nationwide this week for National Police Week, but we have that here everyday," said Frankland. "For us and our department, it lets us know that we're appreciated, that what we're doing out there, the citizens support us and appreciate what we do."