| Sheriff’s View #42 for Oct. 12 to 16, 2009 |
By: Sheriff J.B. King
|
Posted: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 4:50 am
|
Sheriff J.B. King
|
|
|
Welcome aboard one more time as I try to cover the latest news from the Office of the Pulaski County Sheriff. We had a busy week.
Once again this week, we responded to a fatal motorcycle accident on Highway 7 just north of I-44. The reason we responded was that the Missouri State Highway Patrol was having a bumper crop of accidents at the time and they were short on manpower, so our deputies went to the scene and took charge until a state trooper could arrive on scene. As so often happens in a small community, one of our responding deputies had known the deceased person for many years. Needless to say, this made the incident take on a very personal note for our deputy. Once again I would like to remind everyone to please drive with care.
This week also marked the LANEG board of directors meeting. Our meeting this time was in flooded Hermann. Well, at least it seemed like it was flooded. The very heavy rainfall had every ditch in sight full. But we had good news for once at the meeting: our finance issues are starting to ease up and we were able to hire a new officer for the task force. I am not sure if I should say that the task force officer numbers are classified information but I can say we do not have a sufficient number of them to take care of all our needs in the drug war. I wish we could triple our number of officers.
As the flu season approaches, I have attempted to make sure our employees are protected against the seasonal flu. In order to do that I offered flu shots to our employees at company expense. About a third of our employees lined up for the shot. I believe that the loss of the employee out with the flu will have a much greater impact on the operation of the department than the loss of the money I used to pay for the shots. Besides, the money came from the civil fee fund which has been used over the years for a number of concerns related to the working of the department. This was by far a better use of the money than paying for an attorney to sue the county and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
On the vehicle front, we are going along nicely at this point. The last car to break down was mine and it was repaired overnight. During the past two weeks, I have been working on separate deals to add a pair of 2005 Ford Crown Victorias to our fleet. The first car was from Sellers Sexton ford in St. Robert and the second was from a dealership in the Kansas City area. One vehicle had 99,000 accumulated miles and the other one had 74,000 miles. At this time, for most of our fleet the cars are 2001 to 2003 models. If I could replace several of the highest mileage units with 2005 year models, our repair costs for transmissions and engines should drop. The newer cars will also show a small increase in fuel economy and every cent counts when it comes to mileage figures. There is also a morale factor that comes into play when the deputy arrives on scene in the patrol car and leaves the scene hooked to a wrecker when the car will not start. The troops are just not happy when that happens. We have had way too many wrecker bills to pay during the past several months.
Our Shop with a Cop committee wants me to highlight a few events that are quickly approaching. The first event will be on Oct. 16. This is the “arrest and bond” lock-them-up caper. If your best buddy has not been so nice lately or the boss has been nasty, charge them with serious crimes such as stealing candy from a baby or being ugly out of season. Call your local law enforcement agency for details on how to get the warrant issued. The “arrest” will cost $30 and the “bond” will be $30 with all of the proceeds going to a worthwhile cause at Christmas time. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 16.
The Shop with a Cop committee is also working on some kind of a circus theme but they have not given me any details. There will also be a chili cook off between the local police agency heads but again I do not have any details at this time. They have been selling the tee shirts for some time now and they have a lot of shirts left to sell.
On Friday, Oct. 9, we had a surprise morning visit from the United States Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They had a fugitive located in a motel near the Highway 28 overpass on Interstate 44 and were requesting local assistance. The raid was put together quickly since nobody knew when he might try to check out. When the raid went down, the door to the room was found to be dead bolted shut, but the troops had brought along a nice heavy ram which opened the door immediately. The Marshals and the FBI made entry and had the subject covered immediately. After we booked him into the Pulaski County Jail, he was released to the custody of the Marshals. The operation went down nice and smooth and one more drug warrant bad guy was off the street.
Once again I have reached the word count for this column. I would again ask that all of you drive with care and please keep your actions legal. We do not need your jail business, but if you must visit us the jail lights are on!
Click here to follow Pulaski County Daily News on Twitter
Click here to follow Pulaski County Daily News on Facebook
Click here to comment for local opinion |
|
Printer-friendly format
|
|
