Missoula police responded to 333 calls for service at the Johnson Street Shelter in the last three months, Chief Mike Colyer told a group of community stakeholders during a monthly neighborhood meeting this week.

There were also about 131 self-directed patrols by police over the time period, from mid-June to Aug. 29, he said.

The most frequent reasons for police to go to the shelter were for cases of alleged theft (31 reports), following up with witnesses or suspects (24 reports) and violations of city camping ordinances (21 reports), according to Colyer.

He’s asking staff to continue tracking those call volumes going forward, Colyer added. Because the shelter wasn’t open during the same quarter in 2023, it’s hard to draw comparisons, he said. A year ago, the shelter drew 83 calls during the same quarter, with 21 self-directed patrols.

The meeting’s host was Stephanie Dolan, the director of development for the Poverello Center, which also operates the Johnson Street Shelter. The monthly Zoom calls provide updates to neighbors and community members while also allowing them to ask questions of staff and city officials.

Staff members noted recent improvements to the shelter, including new doors, modular bathroom facilities and lockers — the latter having been donated by the Missoula YMCA. Temporary fencing around the shelter is also scheduled to get replaced with a permanent fence, starting next week.

Dolan said it “will provide a sense of privacy” for people staying at the shelter.

The Johnson Street location, which opened as a temporary shelter during the winter months in 2020, started operating year-round this spring. The shelter can house roughly 160 people.

The public neighborhood Zoom meetings take place the first Tuesday of each month.