BLANCHESTER — “During my career I spent over a decade as a criminal investigator, I can assure you that successful criminal investigation is time-critical,” said Blanchester Police Chief Scott Reinbolt in his 2017 Annual Report, which he presented to Blanchester Council during their Thursday meeting.

In his report, Reinbolt stated the department investigated over 30 serious crimes in 2017 including the kidnapping case in April.

He highlighted the officer efficiency over the past year in handling these cases.

“Most police departments gauge their success by the equipment they have. To the contrary, and by design, ours is a police department that values people, not things,” said Reinbolt in the report.

The report stated that, despite increased workloads, they continue to record very high clearance rates and have a higher percentage of cases getting solved.

The latter half of the report talked about the budget cuts they’ve faced over the last few years and what that has meant to the department, and how last year they received $26,300 from the Trust Fund. This allowed them to reinstate long-term narcotics investigations, replace worn/obsolete equipment, and put on youth outreach programs.

Reinbolt completed the report by saying he is proud of his department and that they serve their town well.