Idaho Falls Police neighborhood meeting highlights concerns after recent shootings

The meeting focused on the neighborhoods of 2nd Street to 7th Street and Boulevard to Holmes Avenue, often referred to as the “numbered streets.”

Idaho Falls Police Chief Bryce Johnson said violent crime in Idaho Falls increased by 13% between 2022 and 2023 but rose by 24% within the numbered streets. In 2022, the Idaho Falls Police Department responded to 886 calls within the numbered streets. Of those calls, 31% were made by patrol officers.

The following year, the numbered streets saw 1,085 calls to police, a 22% increase from 2022. Of those calls, 33% were initiated by the officer.

From the beginning of this year to Tuesday’s meeting, the number has stayed at 22%.

Johnson said the city averages around 50,000 calls to police per year.

“If you feel like more is going on, there’s some accuracy in the data that there is more going on,” Idaho Falls Police Chief Bryce Johnson said.

Members of the police department’s command staff for the investigations and special operations division spoke to residents about the shooting involving Broncho. A resident asked if the suspect had targeted the Leask household because they knew him or knew he had expensive items, or was it random.

Idaho Falls Police released a press release on March 15 indicating that Broncho had targeted the wrong house. Lt. Darin Moulton said Broncho interacted with an individual on 4th Street but went to the wrong house.

“He wasn’t targeting that family. He was targeting somebody else and went to the wrong house, and once he did what he did to break into the house, he was in it to win it at that point in time,” Moulton said.

A resident asked if the incident was drug-related, and Moulton responded with yes. According to the affidavit from that incident, Broncho was there to buy marijuana.

Another resident asked if Broncho was from Idaho Falls or somewhere else. Broncho was identified as being from Fort Hall when he was arrested in 2020 for stabbing a man in the abdomen. However, Moulton said Broncho was from Idaho Falls and would frequent the 4th Street area.

Many residents asked what they could do to help the police if they saw any suspicious behaviors. Johnson said writing down license plate numbers of houses with high traffic will help, along with calling the IFPD, and using the East Idaho Crimestoppers website.

During the meeting, a question was asked about the demographics of those arrested by IFPD and whether they are “all American citizens.”

Johnson said the ethnicities of those arrested track with the demographics of Idaho Falls. He said the majority of those arrested are Caucasians, making up 84% of arrests.

“Most of the criminals we see here are our own Idaho Falls criminals,” Johnson said.

During the meeting, Johnson talked about staffing and how the number of available officers has remained the same as in 1999. Currently, they have 101 authorized positions but have 100 hired.

“We have a high 80s number of police officers ordered to respond to calls right now,” Johnson said.

Johnson said that they have 10 officers in training right now, and once they are done, they’ll join the deployable. One new position that will be added is a neighborhood police officer who will specifically patrol the numbered streets.

“That’s anticipated about the end of April and we will be able to put those people in that position, so by the summer they’ll be going,” Johnson said.