Police Chief Chat

This past week, the Rolla Police Department handled 723 calls for service. Of these calls there were: 28 arrests, 18 accidents, 61 traffic complaints, 143 traffic stops, 3 juvenile complaints, 19 suspicious nature calls, 2 benevolent funds, 2 recovered property reports, 29 disturbance calls to include domestics, 11 assists of other agencies, 5 fingerprint requests, 14 stealing reports and 19 check well being requests. This call total is down 54 calls from last week. Another busy week!

On Wednesday of this week, the Rolla Police Department held our first of 12 sessions of our Citizen’s Police Academy. The Citizens Police Academy is a program of instruction by police officers for interested citizens as part of the Department’s community policing philosophy. The goals are to increase awareness of the functions of the Police Department and to increase police/community rapport by sharing concerns through an educative process. Classes meet for four hours, once a week for twelve weeks. All sessions are held in the evening at the Rolla Police Department, with the exception of one Saturday session which is held at the firing range. Participants are invited to ride along with a police officer to see first-hand what happens on the street. Citizens will learn of Internal Affairs and Polygraph Operation, Complaints and Reports, Criminal and Crime Scene Investigation, School Resource Officer program, Police Explorer Post program, DWI Detection, Narcotics Investigation, Emergency Operations and Community Policing, Animal Control, Defense Tactics, Officer Survival, SWAT Team Operations, Fire Arms Training, Central Communications, Traffic Accident Investigation, Traffic Stops, Radar Detection, Arrest and Booking Procedures and Volunteers in Police Services. This year’s academy has 12 citizens in attendance.

I received a letter on Friday from a long-time acquaintance who was the victim of a of a leaving the scene property destruction at his residence. Officer Leann Robertson responded to the call. The letter states as follows: Last night a young lady, an international student at MS&T, accidentally ran through my mailbox. Since it was one of those enclosed in brick and mortar it made quite a mess of both the mailbox and, I’m sure, the car which I have not seen. It developed the young lady had low blood sugar, left the scene and went home. Thankfully, she was un-injured. Officer Leann Robertson responded to take a report and quite obviously, checked up and down the street with some effort, located the girl, and brought her by to talk to me today. All was settled amicably and insurance will cover it. I think the young lady was prepared to come see me by herself so it was probably not a typical hit and run. None-the-less a lot of credit to your officer.

The letter continues: The reason I am writing this is as a thank you and high marks for Officer Leann. She went to the trouble of following up and unerringly did exactly the right thing in a highly professional manner. If she is representative of your officers we are very well protected. Sincerely, (author’s name withheld by me). Thank you to the author for the kind remarks and a great job to Lean!

This past Tuesday was a dedicated training day and several officers underwent 8 hours of Police Taser re-certification training offered by our in-house certified Taser instructors, Detective Hank Harper and Patrol Officer Jessie Hoyt. Officers were required to demonstrate their proficiency in the use of this tool and the non-discrimination in the use. The Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. Its manufacturer, Taser International, calls the effects "neuromuscularincapacitation"[1] and the devices' mechanism "Electro-Muscular Disruption (EMD) technology".[2] Someone struck by a Taser experiences stimulation of his or her sensory nerves and motor nerves, resulting in strong involuntary muscle contractions. Tasers do not rely only on pain compliance, and are thus preferred by some law enforcement over non-Taser stun guns and other electronic control weapons.

The 3rd Annual Operation Neighborhood Clean-up is underway as over 480 waiver/consent forms have been distributed in our 2010 target area. Residents in this area are to complete the form by listing the type of clean-up assistance they require and then return the form to us. The next stage is where several volunteer assessment teams will return to the area and personally meet with the residents requesting assistance and will draw up work orders listing those tasks. The assistance provided will be in the way of tree trimming, lawn mowing, brush and discarded appliance removal, and other tasks that will be provided free of charge by the operation volunteers. Volunteers are comprised of police officers, church leaders, civic groups, student volunteers, construction and utility employees and neighbors. The date of the Operation Neighborhood Clean-up will be held Friday, October 1, 2010 from 6:30 a.m. till 12:00 p.m. If you would like to volunteer and assist us in this operation contact S/Sgt. Rick Williams at 308-1213!

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to invite all motorists to join us in our 4th Annual “Gas up for a Good Cause” campaign where Rolla Police Officers and Phelps County Sheriff’s Deputies converge on the Love’s Truck Stop gas pumps to clean windshields and pump gas for you in an effort to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network. This event will be held on Friday, September 17, 2010 from 4-8 p.m. at Love’s Truck Stop located at I-44 and Hwy V. If you need a fill-up or just topped off, stop by and let us do it for you. All tips or donations received will benefit CMN! Come on out and help us help the kids!

Have a great week!

Chief Mark Kearse