With Spring break and Easter Sunday behind us, it is time to get back to the daily grind of work, school and life. We hope you had a safe Easter and if you traveled, a safe return home. This week, once again has been busy in that we handled 929 calls for service. Of these calls there were: 24 accidents, 1 runaway juvenile, 77 9-1-1 hang up calls, 29 disturbance calls (domestic or other), 48 traffic complaints, 38 assists of other agencies, 4 assaults, 8 fingerprint requests, 6 transient aids, 92 traffic stops, 30 arrests, 4 leaving without paying for fuel, 16 stealing calls and 58 security checks.
On Friday, Volunteers in Police Services (VIPS) Coordinator Vince Giacolone, (VIPS) Division Commander S/Sgt. Rick Williams and I traveled to Jefferson City, Missouri for the first Missouri Volunteers in Police Service Foundation (MOVIPS) organizational meeting. The purpose of the foundation is to bring together diverse partners working in conjunction to increase citizens and community involvement with law enforcement in partnership to reduce the fiscal burden on local governments through the use of civilian volunteer resources within the State of Missouri. This program will be governed by dividing the state into regions in line with the Missouri State Highway Patrol troop designations or zones. Each zone will install a coordinator who will be responsible for introducing the Volunteers in Police Services philosophy to communities and law enforcement agencies who are not yet involved in this program.
This week’s featured employee spotlight will be Communications Supervisor Stayce Smith! Stacey is one of three Communications Supervisors in our 911 Center. She has been with us for almost 14 years now! She originally took a position in dispatch “until she could find something she liked better”. Little did she know just how much we would grow on her! Stacey oversees the training program in dispatch and that is one of her favorite parts of her job here. She takes a lot of pride in making sure our staff is prepared to handle all of the tasks that are thrown their way. Last year Stacey was presented with the George Major Award for Trainer of the Year by the Missouri Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials. Stacey says she is blessed to work with such an amazing group of people. She is very proud of all of the emergency personnel that she dispatches for and the members of the team she dispatches with. Though Stacey is a Rolla “import”, her parents, the late Bland Smith & Dorothy (Matlock) Smith are both natives. She is the mother of three Rolla Bulldogs! Her daughter Jasmine Hall is a freshman at Missouri State University. Lydia Hall is a flutist in Rolla’s Marching Bulldog Brigade and her son, Todd plays football and basketball for Rolla Junior High , as well as soccer for the Rolla Knights. I guess that explains what she does when she is not dispatching. Stayce, thanks for all you do!
If you follow our Facebook site you were sure to see the blog describing the recovery of the missing Rolla Lion’s Club guardian lion! The lion was discovered near the edge of the Lion’s Club property and properly placed back on guard at the Rolla Lion’s Club Den. We feel that the announcement posted on Facebook by area law enforcement agencies led to the recovery of this property. That is one of many advantages of the Facebook program and one of the reasons law enforcement agencies are taking advantage of the utilization of the community, by keeping the public informed of events and happenings that affect us all. Thank you to all our Facebook fans who follow not only the Rolla Police site, but also the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department and Rolla Fire and Rescue Facebook pages. It is our goal to keep you up to date on any events or situations that affect our community. We are very pleased that the property was returned to the Rolla Lions and thank them for all they do!
S/Sgt. Rick Williams has asked me to announce that the 2010 Law Enforcement Torch Run t-shirt campaign was a great success and that we not only met our goal of selling $1,000.00 in t-shirts, but exceeded that mark by over $500.00! The Law Enforcement Torch Run t-shirt campaign is one of many Torch Run events hosted throughout the year, by the Rolla Police Department to benefit our Special Olympic athletes. We also participate in the actual Torch Run that will be held in May and host a trivia night in October. We would like to thank all of you for your continued support in helping us help the athletes!
The 2010 Route 66 Summerfest celebration is just around the corner and with the Summerfest comes the 3rd Annual Fire Truck Pull hosted by the Rolla Police Department and Rolla Fire and Rescue. The Fire Truck Pull will be held on Saturday June 5, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. on 8th Street in front of Meek’s Lumber. The pull consists of teams of up to 10 pullers attempting to pull a fully equipped fire truck a known distance in the best time. This year all proceeds from the Fire Truck Pull will benefit the Veteran’s Memorial Park located on Southview Drive. This park was dedicated in 2009 to all of our surviving veterans and those that gave their lives for our freedom. This year our featured guest emcee will be Rolla Mayor Bill Jenks, and in addition we are hearing rumors that there may be a local fitness guru who will attempt make an attempt at a solo pull! If you would like to enter a team, you may have up to 10 members, and the cost is $100.00 per team. We encourage local businesses, health clubs, government agencies, citizens and veteran’s to enter a team for this great cause. For more information or to enter a team, contact: S/Sgt. Rick Williams at 308-1213! Thanks for helping us help the veterans!
In closing, I would like to include and entry from Communications Supervisor Stayce Smith. She writes: Several of our Telecommunicators are going back to 1st grade this month! They will be visiting first graders at several area schools to teach the kids when and how to dial 911! They use a nationally recognized program called Red E. Fox 911 for Kids. We have been doing this program in the schools for several years now. Friday, I will be visiting Mark Twain Elementary. Next week Alicia Hill, Amy King , myself and Jamie Jones will be visiting Truman Elementary and St. Patrick’s. Wyman Elementary and St. James Elementary will be later this month. This is an important program for the kids and a great chance for our telecommunicators to interact with the community. We appreciate the schools for giving us this opportunity.
Have a great week!
Chief Mark Kearse
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