Those in attendance were:
Trina Edwards
Dawn Kunkle
Michael Charles
Jerry Elder
KD Jones
Corey Noles
Chief Curtman went over the objective and operational function of the committee and presented a powerpoint presentation on regarding the background of the staff, the complaint procedures and policies, and the year to date statistics.
He also noted that he had heard that 25 Highway was patrolled too much and explained that it wasn't. He explained that when a patrol car drives down Hwy 25 there might be 40 citizens that see it but when one is driven down a side street, only one citizen might see it - thus it would be reasonable for citizens to believe that Hwy 25 was being patrolled "too much" as that seems to be the place where they see the cars on patrol. He also noted that at night if an out of towner was going to burglarize a business they would most likely choose one on Hwy 25 as it allowed for a quicker escape.
Chief Curtman then took questions and comments from the committee. Mr. Elder stated that he had heard of complaints about another department using patrol vehicles for personal use and stated that he did not have a problem with it. He stated that if you have a patrol car that is visible to the public in any situation wether the officer was on duty or off, the citizens were getting extra free police protection. Chief Curtman stated that he agreed and that he had been told by several aldermen in the past that if he wanted to use the police vehicle for personal business in town to go ahead. Chief Curtman said that he refused to do that because current city ordinances prohibeted the use of city vehicles for personal use. Mt. Elder stated that he felt this needed to be changed.
KD Jones asked if this committee could be utilized to suggest traffic improvements such as the placement of traffic signs. Chief Curtman responded that it could. KD Jones also stated she would like to see a piece of litterature or brochure be published that would list the officers, their credentials, and their background. She also asked for a comparison of residential burglaries versus business burglaries. Chief Curtman responded that he would report on that at the next meeting.
All statistics reported to the committee can be found at:
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dctnjt94_41t4tqmtcq
RSS Feed