Police Chief Chat

This past week, the Rolla Police Department handled 783 calls for service. Of these calls there were: 28 arrests, 21 accidents, 57 traffic complaints, 108 traffic stops, 12 suspicious nature calls, 7 escorts, 9 loud noise complaints, 17 alarms, 3 harassment, 7 assaults, 4 fight calls, 2 missing persons, 2 benevolent fund requests, 30 security checks, 3 gas drive offs, 9 loud noise complaints. This call total is up 60 calls from last week’s call total. Yet another busy week!

This past week, Cpl. Tim Mayfield, Spo. Tony Lauth and Spo. Chrissy Smith attended the 25th Crash Reconstruction School offered by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Academy in Jefferson City, Missouri. The course is 80 hours of instruction through lectures, projects, and in-depth analysis of actual collisions. Many trained police officers have difficulty getting their crash investigation findings admitted into court. This course is designed to help overcome this difficulty by enabling a well-trained police officer to qualify as an expert and give expert testimony in a court of law relative to the causation factors in motor vehicle traffic crashes. A student who successfully completes this course will be able to give expert testimony in the following areas: Speed of vehicles at impact using conservation of linear momentum, behavior of vehicles in a collision using Newton’s three laws of motion, the effect of weight shift in braking involving large trucks and buses, including truck-tractor/semi-trailer combinations, the effect of anti-skid braking systems in stopping distances and braking action and the determination of direction of travel, initial contact, and position of vehicles on the roadway through the interpretation of vehicle damage and the analysis of at scene marks and evidence.

On Wednesday, September 15th 2010 at approximately 9:40 p.m., the Rolla Police Department received a report of a shooting. It was determined that a 24 year old male had been taken to the Phelps County Regional Medical Center with a single gunshot wound to the leg. It was later determined that the shooting had occurred in the 1000 block of S. U.S. Highway 63 in Rolla. Uniformed Officers and Detectives from the Rolla Police Department's Division of Criminal Investigations began investigating the case. A short time later the suspect was identified and was located in the 100 block of Little Oaks Road in Rolla. Arrested was Shaun Allen age 31 of Rolla, Missouri. Allen was later incarcerated in the Phelps County Jail pending warrant application on the charges of Assault 1st Degree and Armed Criminal Action. The victim of the shooting was treated and later released from the Phelps County Regional Medical Center. The handgun used in the shooting was recovered. The victim and suspect were acquaintances and the shooting was believed to have been as a result of an ongoing dispute. Agencies assisting in the investigation included the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department. The charges for which Shaun Allen was arrested for are merely accusations and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence. If you have additional information pertaining to this case please call the Rolla Police Department at (573) 308-1213 or the Rolla Police Department’s confidential tip hotline at (573) 364-0111. Great job to MSHP, PCSD and the Rolla Police Department!

We are still looking for volunteers for our 3rd Annual Operation Neighborhood Clean-up scheduled for Friday, October 1, 2010. Operation Neighborhood Clean-up is a joint venture between the Rolla Police Department and the Rolla Area Ministerial Alliance which incorporates community volunteers, government and local business to conduct a clean-up/ beautification operation to help those in the community that cannot help themselves. If you would like to participate, please contact S/Sgt. Rick Williams at 308-1213.

On a light side, I received a letter this week from a citizen who had found some humor in something listed in this column. She stated, “Would you please explain what in the world a ‘Suspicious Nature Call’ is?….My first thought when I saw it, after I stopped laughing was, it was worded improperly…. The way something is worded can certainly change the meaning.” Well, I suppose there are a variety of ways that phrase could be taken. Let’s rule out all possibilities of reports of strange people taking bathroom breaks on the side of the road (Nature CALLS). And I can also guarantee these aren’t conservation calls relating to the unusual migratory patterns of birds (NATURE calls). In law enforcement, a “suspicious nature call” is simply a call of suspicious nature that doesn’t quite fit in any other category. For instance, it could be a report of an occupied car parked in an unusual location, or a suspicious looking person seen on school property, or an unidentified package left on a porch….anything that strikes someone as being unusual, and they believe it should be checked into. If anyone has any other questions, I’m always open to opportunities to clarify things for the public. Hope this helped!

Have a great week!

Chief Mark Kearse