Probitas Est Optimus - Honesty Is Best
A WORD ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT MOVING
There has been some great disapproval voiced and published about the need for the police department to move from it's current location. I would like to point out a couple of things that we have had to deal with and concerns about our current location.
Safety and privacy. The Bloomfield Police Department is separated from the library by a thin wall. One that is not bullet proof or sound proof. We did have a shooting incident in the current police department in 2006. A reserve, who was later terminated, fired a Glock .40 caliber pistol in the office by accident. The round went into the floor, shattered and came back up and swiped the left side of my face. Below is a picture of the remains of that round and the portion of the floor that was destroyed. Fortunately this incident did not happen during the day when children were present next door and fortunately the round did not go through the wall.
We have irate people in our office on numerous occasions. It is the nature of our business. These people do not think that there are children as young as 3 years old with their parents next door when they spew out profanities. We have even had officers from other agencies in our office that use harsh language within earshot of these children. We do not need to subject our towns children and good citizenship to this kind of behavior!
We sometimes have to close the east room of the library during their business hours to conduct interviews. Not long ago we started an interview in our office with the juvenile victim in a sexual assault case. We had to move the interview to the library east room due to heavy traffic in the fire department. We now have a metal door between the fire department and the police department but we have found that this door is still NOT soundproof. This is not the type of environment any victim of any crime should have to encounter.
Their is also the concern of the security of our evidence. We have had issues and discussions with our aldermen about this and the new move will eliminate all problems we have had. While we have not had any evidence stolen or tampered with we have had situations where the chain of custody has been compromised! The move into the current city hall will eliminate this concern.
Now I want to discuss prisoners and housing. It is no secret that on any given day the Stoddard County Jail is overcrowded. I believe it was built for 35 inmates. There have been times when I have called them and been advised their population was nearly twice that.
Several months ago we deposited a guest at the county jail. His charges were from DWI to Assault on a law enforcement officer. He had attempted to punch Asst. Chief Malone in the face before being tasered by another officer. This man should have sat in jail until he either posted bond or went to court. Instead, and without the knowledge of this department, things happened, and he was released on his own recognizance (promise to appear in court). I do not blame the Sheriff's Department for this. They can only do with what they have. We had 19 citations or arrests on drug related charges this last year. We released some of these subjects on recognizance simply because we knew the jail was full. Some of these people needed to be incarcerated at least for 24 hours. The new building (which use to serve as the juvenile detention center) is still equipped with former holding cells. I intend to use one of these cells for the somewhat rare occasion when we get a prisoner that really "needs" to be housed, even if just for a few hours, verses the County Jail.
We also have had the opportunity to sponsor training if we had the adequate facilities to do so. We are preparing to contract with an outside business at a very low cost which is already budgeted to provide training in Bloomfield for us (we will also be able to attend their training in other locations at no additional cost). This will allow other agencies throughout the state to send their officers to Bloomfield for training! They will spend their money in our gas stations and restaurants while they are here, as well as probably visit the Stars & Stripes museum. In 2006 our department sponsored a training class and we had about a dozen officers from all over the state come to Bloomfield. Most training from outside providers must be conducted during daytime hours and thus it is impossible to conduct the training in City Halls Chamber room. City Hall business must go on uninterrupted as should the training sessions.
I believe that the move for the police department will assist the officers of this department in conducting interviews in a quiet and productive environment, that the chain of custody of evidence will not be compromised, and that the safety and welfare of library customers will not be sacrificed. My thanks go to the city officials who were wise enough to see these concerns on their own and took action.
Safety and privacy. The Bloomfield Police Department is separated from the library by a thin wall. One that is not bullet proof or sound proof. We did have a shooting incident in the current police department in 2006. A reserve, who was later terminated, fired a Glock .40 caliber pistol in the office by accident. The round went into the floor, shattered and came back up and swiped the left side of my face. Below is a picture of the remains of that round and the portion of the floor that was destroyed. Fortunately this incident did not happen during the day when children were present next door and fortunately the round did not go through the wall.
We have irate people in our office on numerous occasions. It is the nature of our business. These people do not think that there are children as young as 3 years old with their parents next door when they spew out profanities. We have even had officers from other agencies in our office that use harsh language within earshot of these children. We do not need to subject our towns children and good citizenship to this kind of behavior!
We sometimes have to close the east room of the library during their business hours to conduct interviews. Not long ago we started an interview in our office with the juvenile victim in a sexual assault case. We had to move the interview to the library east room due to heavy traffic in the fire department. We now have a metal door between the fire department and the police department but we have found that this door is still NOT soundproof. This is not the type of environment any victim of any crime should have to encounter.
Their is also the concern of the security of our evidence. We have had issues and discussions with our aldermen about this and the new move will eliminate all problems we have had. While we have not had any evidence stolen or tampered with we have had situations where the chain of custody has been compromised! The move into the current city hall will eliminate this concern.
Now I want to discuss prisoners and housing. It is no secret that on any given day the Stoddard County Jail is overcrowded. I believe it was built for 35 inmates. There have been times when I have called them and been advised their population was nearly twice that.
Several months ago we deposited a guest at the county jail. His charges were from DWI to Assault on a law enforcement officer. He had attempted to punch Asst. Chief Malone in the face before being tasered by another officer. This man should have sat in jail until he either posted bond or went to court. Instead, and without the knowledge of this department, things happened, and he was released on his own recognizance (promise to appear in court). I do not blame the Sheriff's Department for this. They can only do with what they have. We had 19 citations or arrests on drug related charges this last year. We released some of these subjects on recognizance simply because we knew the jail was full. Some of these people needed to be incarcerated at least for 24 hours. The new building (which use to serve as the juvenile detention center) is still equipped with former holding cells. I intend to use one of these cells for the somewhat rare occasion when we get a prisoner that really "needs" to be housed, even if just for a few hours, verses the County Jail.
We also have had the opportunity to sponsor training if we had the adequate facilities to do so. We are preparing to contract with an outside business at a very low cost which is already budgeted to provide training in Bloomfield for us (we will also be able to attend their training in other locations at no additional cost). This will allow other agencies throughout the state to send their officers to Bloomfield for training! They will spend their money in our gas stations and restaurants while they are here, as well as probably visit the Stars & Stripes museum. In 2006 our department sponsored a training class and we had about a dozen officers from all over the state come to Bloomfield. Most training from outside providers must be conducted during daytime hours and thus it is impossible to conduct the training in City Halls Chamber room. City Hall business must go on uninterrupted as should the training sessions.
I believe that the move for the police department will assist the officers of this department in conducting interviews in a quiet and productive environment, that the chain of custody of evidence will not be compromised, and that the safety and welfare of library customers will not be sacrificed. My thanks go to the city officials who were wise enough to see these concerns on their own and took action.
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PD BULLET.jpg, 74 KB -
BULLET HOLE.jpg, 250 KB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dawn Kunkle on -
I think it is a good ideal, it will be better for the kids and you.
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