Jasper Police Chief highlights April activities
After Mayor Dean Vonderheide acknowledged National Police Week in a proclamation during Tuesday’s Board of Public Works and Safety meeting, Chief Chad Dick thanked him and outlined several police activities in April.
Officers demonstrated quick thinking when responding to a runaway juvenile case on April 9. Using Flock camera technology and cell phone tracking, they determined the juvenile was heading toward I-64 near Ferdinand. After notifying state police through a “be on the lookout” alert, troopers located the vehicle traveling eastbound.
When troopers attempted to stop the vehicle, it fled and eventually crashed. The juvenile ran from the vehicle but was located shortly after and transported to a hospital in New Albany. Officer Jhazz Bieker provided a courtesy transport for the parents to reunite with their child.
On April 13, officers responded to a business on West 6th Street where employees reported a female crawling inside the ceiling tiles. Officers successfully removed her from the ceiling, discovering she was wanted on a warrant and in possession of drugs. She was transported to the security center.
“I did receive a couple compliments from some of the patrons of that restaurant on the actions of our officers and how well they handled that,” Dick told the board.
On April 16, the department received a report that a person had pointed a gun at them at a local restaurant. Officers went to the restaurant and watched the video. They were able to identify the suspect and make an arrest for intimidation with a deadly weapon and harassment.
The department’s detectives also achieved significant results. On April 15, a suspect in a case they “worked very hard on” received a 13-year sentence with nine years to be served in prison for possession of child pornography, rape, and voyeurism.
“Great job to Detective Schmitt and Officer Burton who helped investigate that,” the chief said.
On April 28, another suspect in one of Detective Greener’s cases was sentenced to 16 years with 10 years in prison for child molestation.
Dick told the board these are very tough cases to work for detectives and he was glad for the successful outcomes.
He then gave an update on activities by the department’s two school resource officers.
“School resource officers continue to provide valuable services to local schools,” Dick reported. “For April, they reported three arrests, four searches, five drug or alcohol violations, 16 stop arm violations and bus patrols, nine vehicle crashes, 41 school presentations, and 11 student behavioral assistance cases–that’s simply helping the schools out when they need some assistance with the student.”
The board also addressed a change in the department’s hiring plans. A candidate who had previously received a conditional offer of employment will no longer join the force and Dick requested permission to begin another hiring process to fill the vacant position.
This prompted a discussion about budgetary concerns driven by the state legislature’s recent passage of the property tax reform bill.
“This is what I’m hearing from other municipalities – because of the changes in funding for municipalities across the state, police and fire are a couple of the areas that are facing impact,” Mayor Vonderheide said. “I feel strongly about our public safety and the police and fire supported by our community.”
He explained it was important to staff the department to ensure the public feels safe in the community.
The board formally accepted the withdrawal of the conditional offer and approved moving forward with advertising for the position again.
In the final agenda item, the board adopted three mandatory statewide policies that the chief had already implemented through a general order on April 30. These policies cover deadly force, minimum standards for vehicle pursuits, and defensive tactics training.
The chief explained that after attending Chief School, he compared the statewide mandatory policies with the department’s current policies and “recognized that I needed to incorporate those immediately.”
The policies were adopted pending formal approval as part of a policy book amendment process, the department is working on with Bliss McKnight. The three policies include:
- Uniform Statewide Policy on Deadly Force
- Uniform Statewide Policy on Minimum Standards for Vehicle Pursuits
- Uniform Statewide Policy on Defensive Tactics Training Program
The board unanimously approved the adoption of these policies, which took effect by the end of business on May 2.
