Chelsea police logged 1,962 calls for service in August, made 70 arrests and wrote 279 citations, according to the department’s monthly “Chelsea Police by the Numbers” report for August 2026, which the department posted to its Facebook page this weekend. The report is a single graphic under the name of Police Chief Keith Houghton. It covers calls, arrests, citations, warnings, written reports, directed patrols and crashes for the month.
The August figures
The 1,962 calls for service work out to about 63 a day across the month. Officers wrote 419 reports, roughly one for every five calls. The department also counted 157 impact patrols in August, about five a day. Impact patrols are directed patrols aimed at specific problem addresses or blocks; a Chelsea police sergeant described them that way to the Traffic and Parking Commission in October, when he said a list of problem addresses would let the department direct officers to those areas.
- Arrests: 70 in total, 67 adults and 3 juveniles. Adults made up 95.7 percent of arrests and juveniles 4.3 percent.
- Citations: 279. Of those, 19 led to criminal complaints, 4 led to arrests, and 25 were civil citations.
- Warnings: 231. Citations and warnings together came to 510 for the month, about 16 a day.
- Calls for service: 1,962.
- Reports written: 419.
- Impact patrols: 157.
- Motor vehicle crashes: 50, a little under two a day.
What the report does not say
The graphic gives totals only. It does not break the calls for service down by type, say how many of the 70 arrests were for violent offenses, drug offenses or warrants, or list the streets where the 50 crashes happened. It does not say how many of the 279 citations were for moving violations and how many were for parking or other offenses, and it does not compare August with July or with August 2025. The department’s post describes the report as a monthly snapshot of “calls for service, arrests, traffic enforcement, and other public safety efforts” and says the numbers “represent just part of the work our officers do each day.” The August report arrived in the second week of November.
The department posted the text of its announcement in English and Spanish. The graphic itself is in English only.
Recent Chelsea police coverage
Chelsea police tracked an assault victim’s stolen phone to Salem on November 3, where three people were arrested and four firearms were recovered. Last month the department opened the station for a community tour and promoted the 988 mental health line.
Update, November 8: September numbers posted
Chelsea police posted the September 2026 report on Sunday morning, a day after the August report. September was busier on the phones and on the roads and lighter on tickets.
- Calls for service: 2,001, up from 1,962 in August. Over a 30-day month that is about 67 a day, compared with about 63 in August.
- Arrests: 76, up from 70. All 76 were adults; there were no juvenile arrests in September, after 3 in August.
- Citations: 240, down from 279. Of those, 13 led to criminal complaints (19 in August), 3 led to arrests (4) and 18 were civil citations (25).
- Warnings: 206, down from 231. Citations and warnings together came to 446, down from 510.
- Reports written: 432, up from 419.
- Impact patrols: 157, the same count as August.
- Motor vehicle crashes: 65, up from 50, a little over two a day.
Like the August graphic, the September report gives totals only, with no breakdown by type of call, offense or location. The department’s post says officers “responded to more than 2,000 calls for service while continuing our efforts in traffic safety, neighborhood patrols, and community policing.”