Police Chief Chat

Chief Chat

This past week, the Rolla Police Department handled 712 calls for service. Of these calls there were: 30 arrests, 26 accidents, 27 traffic complaints, 185 traffic stops, 19 disturbance calls (including domestics), 14 suspicious nature calls, 21 assists of other agencies, 52 911 hang up calls, 13 check the well being requests, 32 animal control calls, 18 stealing calls, 41 security checks, 13 alarms and 7 escorts. The call total is up 86 calls from last week. Yet, another busy week!

On Tuesday night VIPS Director Vince Giacolone, Phelps County Sheriff’s Deputy Mitch Wofford and I had the opportunity to address the residents of the shoe factory addition during their 2nd Neighborhood Watch Meeting. We were welcomed by Coordinators Rhonda Myers and Duane Nevels and a large enthusiastic group of residents who had questions and voiced concerns over ways to combat crime in their neighborhood. I relayed several plans in the works to assist this endeavor and received supporting feedback on the intended operations. Thanks to all in attendance!

Also on Tuesday night, Senior Patrol Officer Brad Lewis received a call of an intoxicated individual at a local convenience store. Brad made contact with the suspect and ran a check on him through Central Communications where he learned that the suspect was wanted on a warrant out of Phelps County on the charge of failure to appear on a driving while suspended charge. The suspect Bobby L. Doyle age 29, of Rolla, was arrested and searched incident to the arrest. During the search Officer Lewis discovered an uncapped syringe containing heroin in the suspects clothing. Paraphernalia consistent with drug use was also discovered. Doyle was incarcerated in the Phelps County Jail on the arrest warrant and additional charges will be pursued on the drug violation. Great job Brad!

On Wednesday of this week, Phelps County Coroner Larry Swinfard announced the appointment of our own Cpt. Jason Smith as Chairman of the Phelps County Child Fatality Review Board. This appointment will become effective on January 1, 2011. The review board is mandated by the State of Missouri and part of the Missouri Child Fatality Review Program. The board consists of representatives of Law Enforcement, Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office, Juvenile Office, Children’s Division, Public Health and Emergency Services. All deaths of children from birth to age 17 must be reported to the County Coroner. The coroner will then determine whether the death meets the criteria of mandatory panel review. Upon activation the panel will be the investigating body to determine the cause of death and then monitor the continued investigation. Congratulations to Jason on this appointment!

Also on Wednesday Central Communications was scheduled for an audit on the use of the Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System. I would like to include an excerpt from our Communications Chief Paula Volkmer to the Communications Division following the audit. Paula writes: This morning we were paid a visit from the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Quality Assurance Team for our Region. As a part of our agreement to access the statewide law enforcement computer system (MULES), we must maintain their standards of record keeping, training, security and access. Because this system is predominately used by our communicators on behalf of law enforcement officers in Phelps County, our agency coordinator is Comm. Supervisor Chuck Satterfield. The Quality Assurance Team prepare in advance by researching our activity within the system, then evaluate our access and how we process those records. After careful review of our practices, this morning we were awarded 100% compliance. Great job Chuck, communicators and all RPD users of MULES.

On Thursday, Christmas came a bit early for me as I was surprised by my employees who presented me with a 7 ½ week old male Great Dane puppy! The employees got together and pooled their money to purchase the AKC registered Dane, then presented him Thursday afternoon. To say the least, I was elated as I have raised 4 Great Dane puppies and enjoyed them for several years. Sadly they all grew old and passed on. The last 2 passed just last year. The employees knew how much the animals meant to me and realized that the time was right to find a replacement. The new Dane is black in color and very laid back for a puppy. I have decided to make him the Police Department mascot and bring him in to the PD on occasion for the employees to enjoy. One problem I have is thinking of a proper name for him. With the success of our Facebook site and realizing putting 4,170 heads together is better than just mine, I decided to let the Facebook fans decide on a name for him. We opened the “Name the Pooch” campaign on Thursday afternoon and by Friday morning we had over 200 suggestions! There were several great ideas, and more are coming in so, I am fairly confident we will have a “handle” on this project very soon. Thank you to my RPD family for your consideration and wonderful addition to both the Police Department and my family. I would also like to thank the many Facebook fans for your great suggestions and continued support of the Rolla Police Department.

Have a great week!

Chief Mark Kearse