Police Chief Chat

This past week, the Rolla Police Department handled 626 calls for service. Of these calls there were: 21 arrests, 31 accidents, 27 traffic complaints, 64 traffic stops, 17 disturbance calls (including domestics), 16 suspicious nature calls, 31 assists of other agencies, 45 911 hang up calls, 13 check the well being requests, 28 animal control calls, 18 stealing calls, 7 escorts, 7 trespassing calls, 49 security checks, 2 abandon vehicles. This call total is up 75 calls from last week. Yet, another busy week!

With Christmas just around the corner, several charitable events are taking place throughout the community. These events are very typical for our community in that we live in a place where those more fortunate than others are quick to come to the aid of those less fortunate. One of the events is the “Cops Care” program hosted by the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department This program has been very successful for several years and seems to grow each year. The Sheriff’s Department has teamed with the Rolla Wal-Mart and has raised funds to allow less fortunate children in the community to accompany a law enforcement officer on a shopping spree where the children are provided with a $100 gift card to purchase whatever they desire to purchase for themselves for Christmas. Sheriff’s Deputies, Highway Patrol Officers, Corrections officers, Police Officers and even officer’s spouses accompany the child through the store to fill their Christmas wishes. Rarely does a child use all the money for themselves in that more times than not, they want to purchase items for parents or siblings that were not able to be there. Most of the time, if the child were to go over the $100 limit, the accompanying officer steps forward and pulls the additional cash out of their own pockets. If you would like to contribute to this cause, contact Sgt. Andy Davis at the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department at 426-3860.

Another program that is new this year is an idea created by the Edgar Springs Police Chief Kody Lucas. Kody and the Edgar Springs Police Department has teamed with the Division of Social Services to put together a coalition of law enforcement agencies in Phelps County who are accepting donations for the following needed items: Car seats (all sizes and ages), coats (sizes s-xl), kid’s shoes (all sizes), blankets, school supplies, socks, undergarments, diapers, toys and stuffed animals. These items will be accepted as well as monetary or gift card donations (make checks payable to: City of Edgar Springs) these donations can be dropped off at the Edgar Springs City Hall from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. or at the following law enforcement agencies from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are Rolla Police Department, Phelps County Sheriff’s Department, St. James Police Department, Newburg Police Department and the Doolittle Police Department. Please drop off the donations by January 15, 2011. Many times children are rescued from violent or dangerous situations in the middle of the night and may have to leave without time to gather belongings. Your contributions will go toward providing these necessary items.

And finally, the last program I will mention this week has also been ongoing for several years here at Denny Ford of Rolla. Denny and his crew developed a campaign several years ago called “Fill a Ford for the Holidays” where they encourage the community to bring in non-perishable foods to be donated to the various food pantries in Rolla and the surrounding communities. The food is placed in the bed of a pick-up truck in the dealership until the end of the campaign, where it is then turned over to the needy entities. This year the Rolla Police Department is challenging our employees to support this cause by bringing in can goods and other non-perishable food items to be delivered to Denny Ford. We encourage you to meet our challenge and support this great cause.

This past week Special Olympics – Missouri held their 26th Law Enforcement Torch Run Kick-Off where plans are made for the upcoming year on how to better serve our Special Olympic athletes through several events hosted by law enforcement agencies across Missouri. the Torch Run is a campaign to raise awareness and funds for Special Olympics. The mission of the LETR is to raise both dollars and awareness for Special Olympics. Nearly 200 agencies and 2,500 officers work year-round in Missouri to accomplish this goal; they are some of our greatest volunteers. All funds raised go toward supporting Special Olympics Missouri's year-round sports training and athletic competition program for more than 15,000 athletes across the state.

The Rolla Police Department hosts several events throughout the year to include the torch run, t-shirt sales and a trivia night. Past events include a motorcycle rally, fire-truck pull, the polar plunge and a “Cop-on-Top event. Over the past several years these events have raised thousands of dollars for the Special Olympic athletes and provided them the opportunity to compete in real sporting events and to experience real life exhilaration, a sense of accomplishment and even the sorrows of defeat. Our torch run t-shirts will be available early next week and will be just in time for Christmas. To order or view the new 2011 shirts stop by the police department and contact S/Sgt. Rick Williams or call 308-1213!

Have a great week!

Chief Mark Kearse