Police Chief Chat

This past week, the Rolla Police Department handled 748 calls for service. Of these calls there were: 27 arrests,14 accidents,34 traffic complaints,148 traffic stops, 22 disturbance calls (including domestics),15 suspicious nature calls, 18 assists of other agencies, 68 911 hang up calls, 8 check the well being requests, 28 animal control calls, 22 stealing calls, 17 escorts, 34 security checks, 3 intoxicated person calls and 5 careless drivers. This call total is up 201 calls from last week and yes, another busy week!

On Sunday, January 30, 2011 the National Weather Service out of Springfield, Missouri issued a severe winter storm warning for the Rolla area. The weather service announced that an extremely large and powerful storm system was moving across the Midwest and was likely to have a huge impact on our community. They predicted high winds, freezing rain, ice, sleet and finally a large amount of snow, possibly exceeding 20 inches. Some forecasters predicted that this storm was of historic proportion and may cause trees and power lines to snap and create power outages for a large amount of the population. The temperatures were predicted to drop in the single digits following the storm so recovery could be slow.

Then on Monday, January 31, 2011, the National Weather Service added a snow blizzard warning to the severe weather warning! The timeframe on the blizzard warning was from 6:00 a.m. Tuesday, thru 6:00 p.m. Wednesday. That was potentially 18 hours of heavy snow. Well as you can imagine, we realized that we may have our work cut out for us. Lt. Jim Macormic began checking schedules and determined which officers would probably be able to make it in for their shifts and which officers may not. Cpt. Jason Smith put together a fleet of available 4 wheel drive vehicles to be used to shuttle personnel and also to be utilized as patrol vehicles should our patrol cars become ineffective. S/Sgt. Rick Williams coordinated with Mayor Bill Jenks and outlined a plan to open the Rolla City Emergency Operations Center in the event of power outages due to the storm. In addition contact was made with Phelps County EMD Sandy North, Phelps County Health Department Director Jodi Waltman, American Red Cross Director Edna Bridges, Fire Chief Robert Williams and Recreation Centre Director Scott Caron concerning the establishment of warming shelters should the need arise. Shelters were secured at the United Methodist Church, Rolla Community Hall and the Centre. Communications Chief Paula Volkmer contacted additional telecommunicators and had them on stand-by in the event that Central Dispatch becomes saturated with calls. Lt. Doug James secured Wyman Elementary School as a warming shelter and also secured a bus from the Rolla Public Schools to be used in the event that shelter victims required transportation.

The City of Rolla Public Information Officer Scott Grahl prepared several public service announcements concerning precautions to take and listing resources should the need arise. Central Dispatch personnel kept the up to date weather information flowing to our Facebook fans via our Rolla Police Department Facebook site. Animal Control Supervisor John Redshaw and his team at the Rolla Animal Shelter looked at options available at the shelter in the event that displaced families may need to house pets. All this potentially dangerous storm activity comes on the heels of a recent deadly tornado that hit the area 1 month earlier. Fortunately, with this storm as with the tornado system, the City of Rolla was spared loss of life and suffered no major damage or power service disruption as once again, the City of Rolla dodged a bullet. We clearly attribute our lack of devastation to the grace of god, but I would like to add that we too attribute the success to you the citizens in the community. Central Dispatch was grateful to report very few unnecessary calls from citizens in the community concerning the storm. The Patrol Division reports that many motorists decided to stay home rather than brave the slick roads, and those that did venture out, drove with respect, patience and care. In times of emergency situations we do our best to keep you informed, keep you protected and return life back to normal in the least amount of time. This would not be possible without the combined effort of our community.

In closing, I would like to mention that the Behind the Badge organization is no longer accepting donations for the Disaster Relief Fund. The campaign has ended with a total of $7,661.00 received in donations! The checks will be disbursed to the victims next week. Thank you for your help!

Have a great week!

Chief Mark Kearse