Friday, January 6, 2012

Rolla Police - Chief Chat

This past week, the Rolla Police Department handled 625 calls for service. Of these calls there were: 24 arrests, 11 alarm calls, 11 traffic accidents, 18 traffic complaints, 6 check the well being requests, 131 traffic stops, 18 disturbance calls (including domestics), 11 suspicious nature complaints, 11 assists of other agency requests, 14 field interviews, 6 escorts, 4 leave without pay complaints, 5 intoxicated persons, 25 animal control calls, 3 fights and 59 security checks. This call total is down 94 calls from last week. I little better, but still a busy week!

The United States Attorney’s Office announced this week that William P. Haynes, Jr., was sentenced to 18 months in prison for possession of child pornography. Haynes, 60, of Rolla, MO, pled guilty in September 2011 and appeared this week for sentencing before United States District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig. This case was investigated by the Rolla Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Great job by all.

The Rolla Police Department Criminal Investigations Unit is comprised of Det. Sgt. Ken Nakanishi, Det. Hank Harper, Det. Robert Jones and Investigator Derrick Dillon. The CIU investigate many types of crimes and are on call 24/7, which means they are called out very often. I checked a small portion of their current case load and discovered that these are the cases that they are currently working. 1 armed robbery case, 7 sex crimes cases, 3 death cases, 8 stealing cases, 7 fraud investigations, 1 drug case,(most drug cases are handled through our Drug Enforcement Task Force), 3 burglary cases, 2 stolen vehicle cases, 3 receiving stolen property investigations and they are also conducting three employee applicant background investigations. In addition they are called out to assist the Patrol Division with crime scene processing and follow-up investigations. As you can see, this unit is only comprised of 4 investigators and this assignment comes with a tremendous responsibility. I am very proud of this Division and the quality of the investigations put forth. Keep up the good work guys!

New years eve I assisted the Patrol Divisions from 9:00 pm until 2:00 am and was very pleased with the way things went over all as it was relatively a slow night. Almost immediately I responded to a fight call at one of the local bars. While several of us were on that call we received a report of a disturbance and a possible suicidal person call at another location. I left the bar fight to respond to the suicidal person call in assistance of another officer that was responding to the same call alone. I arrived on that scene and it involved a mentally impaired person who become irate for reasons unknown. I transported that person to the PCRMC emergency room for a mental eval. As soon as I left the hospital we had a report of someone turning over grave stones in the Rolla Cemetery. I responded with other officers and upon arrival patrolled the area on foot, but did not locate anyone or identify any stones damaged. While we were there we had to have officers respond to another bar fight. We then received a call of ten people fighting outside of a 3rd bar (can’t we just all get along?). I then responded to another call of two females fighting in the street. Upon arrival, all parties were inside, and everything had calmed down. We then responded to a domestic violence call and soon after, we responded to another fight call at different bar, but everyone was gone when we arrived. The Patrol officers made several traffic stops that night in an effort to identify intoxicated drivers but traffic was unusually light. I would like to commend the bar owners for their added staff and bouncers, in their efforts to keep things under control. So overall is was a very quiet night for New Years eve in that we did not arrest any drunk drivers or have any traffic accidents. Great job Rolla!

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our newest member to the Rolla Police Department family. Crystal Allen began her training this week in Central Communications as a telecommunicator. Crystal will replace Melissa Maddox who left to pursue other challenges. Crystal will undergo a very intense 12 – 16 week training program where she will learn all the traits inherent of a solid telecommunicator. An interested side note on Crystal is that she is the niece of a former RPD telecommunicator Julie Mayfield who is also the wife of Sgt. Tim Mayfield. (See, I told you this was the Rolla PD family!) Crystal is married to her husband Chad and they have two sons, Evan and Owen. They attend First Assembly of God in Rolla and serve in the nursery. During down time the Allens like to spend as much time outside as possible. They enjoy riding four wheelers and dirt bikes and exploring the forest property near their home. Welcome aboard Crystal and good luck to Melissa Maddox in her future undertakings!

In closing, I would like to offer our thoughts and prayers to the family of retired MSHP Sgt. Terry W. Parker who passed on New Year’s Day after a lengthy illness. Terry was a devoted family man, a devout Christian, a courageous patrolman and a true friend to many. We will miss him!

Have a great week!


Chief Mark Kearse

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