Online Chat - Emporia Police Chief
November 18, 2008
Emporia police chief Gary Smith will answer your questions about Emporia's police department.
Moderator: Gary Smith has been Emporia’s police chief since January. Today, he is at The Gazette answering questions from readers. The chat is set to run for half an hour. If you have a question for the chief, please submit it soon. Be sure to click the "refresh" button to see the latest questions and replies.
gayzettesux: The other day I went jogging in a park in my neighborhood in the morning about 8 a.m. When I got to the park there were two Emporia police cars parked side-by-side, engines running, windows down with the officers sitting there chatting with each other. This doesn't sound bad until you consider the fact that I jogged for an hour and they were still there when I left. It is possible they may have been discussing a case or filling out paperwork, but if that's the case they should be doing that at the department's office, not sitting in their cars with the engine running. This is an irresponsible waste of taxpayer money and I want to know what you're going to do about it.
Gary Smith: I get this question on a regular basis and a good question. We ask that our officers complete as many of their reports in the field as is possible to remain available for calls. We also encourage them to meet occasionally to discuss matters that are sensitive in nature and often they are covering briefing information so save shift time traveling back and forth to the office. Without knowing the date or time or circumstances, I can't tell you if an hour was excessive in this case or not. I'd invite you to contact me directly and I can certainly check on the circumstances and let you know more detail. I'll also pass your concerns along to our staff and supervisors. I am confident that our staff members are very cognizant of our obligation to be good stewards of taxpayer monies. As residents of the community and county, we see first hand the dire needs for improvement of equipment, staffing and service delivery. I'm proud of the hard work our members put forth on a daily basis in an occupation that is challenging and full of inherent risks. This is also a good opportunity to explain why our cars are often found running. The electronic equipment in the cars, such as the computers, speed detection equipment, video and audio equipment is temperature and humidity sensitive so for now, we are often left in the position of leaving the vehicles running. We are fortunate to have an enclosed parking area when the cars are at our office which does reduce the amount of running time we experience. We also make use of bicycle officers and some foot patrols to minimize the gas consumption. We have consolidated our trips out of town and limited the amount of non-response time used by our administrative staff.
Flatlander: Why do so many drivers speed through the buisness area on 6th ave.? The speed limit is 20 mph, yet many drive 30+. Thank for your reply, Flatlander
Gary Smith: The 20MPH zone on 6th Avenue by the schools is a challenge to enforce both during school times as well as other times. Part of the challenge is where the officer can sit to run RADAR or Laser to be able to safely get out and stop the vehicle without causing another traffic hazard. Our two traffic officers, Larry Clay and Matt Kelly do spend quite a bit of time in this area as to our other officers. We've discussed improving the lighting for school zone notification in that area as well as additional signage and public education. I'll suggest that Officer Clay include this topic in his weekly news release. I'm hoping that in the future we can look at the feasibility of a motorcycle officer who would be much more effective for traffic enforcement in these types of areas and provide a more economical vehicle in which to enforce traffic as well.
Steve_Corbin: Will your department have the resources to enforce the proposed smoking ban if it is enacted? Do you have a personal opinion on this proposal or does your job preclude you from answering?
Gary Smith: I do have an opinion but my position as chief is to direct staff to administer the policies and ordinances enacted by the City Commission. As to enforcement, it will depend if an ordinance is passed, what responsibilities will fall to law enforcement. I've worked in other communities where there were smoking bans enacted and there were very few violations because most individuals, despite their beliefs are law biding folks which is the great part about our country.
Bryant: I have noticed a few of your officers not following traffic laws while in town. Particularly, not using their turn singles and not stopping at stop signs. Are officers allowed to break traffic laws without an emergency? Thank you
Gary Smith: I've noticed that the lack of the use of turn signals seems to be a community-wide problem and I've asked our traffic enforcement officers to begin working this area. Unless responding to an emergency call, police, sheriff, state patrol, university police, all are required to abide by the same traffic laws as anyone else. When our supervisors receive a citizen concern, the supervisor will review the matter and take the appropriate action. Last summer we cited our animal control officer for running a red light as a result of an accident. I'm confident that by in large, our officers are cognizant of the need to be good role models and the fact that the police car makes them a highly visible symbol. I'll ask that our supervisors review this matter at our staff meetings.
Moderator: There is still time to submit a question for Chief Smith. Just type it in the box and click Submit.
jmb232: What is your opinion of consolidated law enforcement in Lyon County?
Gary Smith: Having started in the middle of the discussion, I believe that it is always beneficial to review best practices to determine if there is a better way to deliver any service. I believe that government consolidation as a whole is something that will be looked at and should be looked at to determine what cost savings and efficiencies can be identified, if any. As the police chief, I am, in part, an advocate for my co-workers but I'm also a city official with responsibilities to look at cost savings and efficiencies. I've been working with Sheriff Eichorn since my arrival. We have identified many activities and functions that we already share. There are others that we have moved toward sharing and will continue to review regardless of what the final outcome of the study concludes. I'll provide input when asked to assist in the public policy formulation that will be determined by our constituents and elected officials. I've urged that before any process really begins, residents of Lyon County (including the cities) need to communicate their image and expectation of what types of law enforcement services they want and what they are willing to spend to receive those benefits.
moderator: Posted by USNretired (anonymous) on November 14, 2008 at 8:04 a.m. (Remove) What plans do you have for stop sign runners? South Avenue is dangerous for bicycles and motorcycles especially as people don't even slow down at the stop sign a lot of the time.
Gary Smith: Just like the lack of use of turn signals, not stopping at stop signs is also another problem. When our officers develop strategies to determine where we can best use our resources for traffic enforcement, we look at citizen calls of concerns, accident frequencies, requests from public works, KDOT, construction crews and officer observations to determine where we should focus the enforcement resources we currently have. I'll ask that our two traffic officers give this location their attention for a while.
moderator: With a downturn in the economy is there increased violence in our community?
Gary Smith: History has shown that previous economic downturns have produced additional crimes, some violent, it behooves us to monitor those situations from a historical standpoint. A lot of those violent crimes are often related to domestic violence and assaultive behaviors against individuals who know one another. Emporia is fortunate to have a good community support system for referrals. Prior to the current economic downturn, we had already reviewed our policies and protocols with respect to stalking, domestic violence and person crimes to improve our community outreach, officer training, and working with prosecutors and support agencies to protect the survivors of crimes and to make sure the offenders are brought to justice. Our department provides a number of educational programs we would be happy to present to various community groups that deal with this concern. Persons interested may call our office at 620.343.4200.
moderator: Are you changing the look of the police cars?
Gary Smith: The answer is yes. The feedback from department members indicated an interest in black and white patrol cars with different markings. There were no dollars available for changing existing vehicles. We redesigned the plastic stencils we use on our cars (many people mistakenly think we paint them on) and will begin the change as we replace vehicles or are required to repair them due to damage or accidents. As in any business where recognition or branding is important, police agencies regularly change the vehicle markings or appearance to be more visible and to also keep current in designs and hopefully provide a progressive image to those visiting our community. Our police department staff and our vehicles are often the first impression many visitors have when coming to Emporia. We want that impression to be one of professionalism, progressiveness, and a little pizazz.
moderator: How is the drug dog working out for the Emporia Police department? Is he being successful?
Gary Smith: Actually, we have a police service dog. The difference is a police service dog works a regular shift and is trained to do a variety of police functions. A drug dog is specific to drug interdiction. Our dog handler, Officer Lance Delgado and his K-9 partner, Arco, are working out very well. Officer Delgado spends a lot of time in training and caring for the dog as well as his regular patrol duties. They have successfully prevented a number of disturbances, cleared numerous buildings found open or with alarms going off, have identified a number of vehicles that had drugs in them and has also presented at a number of public functions. We are grateful to the businesses and individuals who donated the money, time and equipment needed to get the program started.
moderator: What are the biggest challenges fighting crime in Emporia?
Gary Smith: The biggest challenge in fighting crime is trying to prevent it from ever happening. Our resources are fewer than they were five years ago. We have five fewer police officer positions now than there were in 2000. The volume of calls for service, especially animal complaints, tasks our dispatchers, officers, investigators, animal control officers, and community service officers. The technical aspects of the job and the demands on reporting to all the various state and federal locations increases the amount of time away from policing to take care of the administrative demands of the job. The challenge for the next few years will be to try to maintain and expand our service to the community without additional resources. We continue to prioritize our calls, our community outreach and services. We want to hear from the community about their concerns and to help facilitate that process will continue to hold educational opportunities, reinvigorate Neighborhood Watch, expand our working relationship with Crime Stoppers and other community groups. We will begin neighborhood meetings in 2009 to help gauge the development of our strategic plan. The bottom line is that we are fortunate to have the best law enforcement professionals around. They are willing to do what it takes to get the job done. I am humbled by their dedication and caring spirit. We will continue to try to keep up with technology. A lot of our computer and other electronic equipment is well over 10 years old. Running a 24/7 operation takes a toll on equipment and I appreciate our current City Commission's commitment to develop a working capital improvement plan where we can anticipate a regular replacement schedule of vehicles and equipment so we don't ever get so far behind the curve again.
Moderator: What is the current staffing level at the police department? Are there vacancies to fill or are you fully staffed?
Gary Smith: Our current staffing levels are down from 2000 by five officers. This presents some challenges given the increased levels of service calls and as I mentioned in the last posting, the increased demand in technology and the demands by the state and federal agencies for increased quantities of documents and reports. I'm very proud of our staff's commitment to meeting the challenges of increased workload and citizen expectations. I do worry a bit when I see the fatigue in their eyes and worry they often are tired which puts them at a safety risk. We continue to look at new schedule options and ways to increase productivity and improve officer safety. Our new organizational structure approved recently by the Commission removes some of our administrative positions and puts those positions in front line supervision positions which equates to more uniforms on the street. We increasingly experience bigger calls for animal services and we will most likely come back for staffing requests in the 2010 budget to help meet the growing demand from our community. We are also exploring how additional community service officers who are non sworn positions can help to remove some of the burden from our officers' time demands
Moderator: If you could add five officers again, where would you place them?
Gary Smith: I'm hearning from most of my officers that we need to develop another program that would get at least one officer back in the schools as a resource officer. We would like to restore the crime prevention education component of our department and work with the members of our community to get our Neighborhood Watch started again, improve responses to quality of life issues such as graffiti, property crime investigations, and neighborhood issues. The remaining three positions would return to the patrol shifts to assist with the increasing demand of calls for service until we reach a point where our proactive and prevention programs can reduce the number of calls for service and reported crimes. In theory, once you reach that threashold, we can concentrate on additional community concerns and other quality of life issues.
Moderator: You already discussed whether violent crimes might increase in the wake of the economic downturn. Do you anticipate an increase in property crimes?
Gary Smith: If history is an indicator, we might expect to see an increase in "paper crimes" like bad checks, shoplifting, credit card misues and fail to pay for services such as gas drive offs. Many of these types of crimes can be controlled at the point of service through pre-pay and/or verification of the payor. Kansas has a very broad definiton of burglary. If a bike is taken from a front porch or a garden hose from a garage that even can be considered a burglary as can a theft from a vehicle. Theft of electronic devices from cars such as cell phones, mp3 players and electronic devices are prime targets as they can be easily transported and pawned or sold on a "midnight garage sale". Many of these types of property crimes can be controlled through good crime prevention measures that our staff would be happy to meet with residents and community groups to assist. We would also be happy to provide a security survey of your home or business at no cost. We want to be of assistance in reducing as many incidents of property crime as possible. Those interested in learning more about any of our prevention programs may call our office at 620.343.4200.
Moderator: As we head into the holiday shopping season, what advice do you have for people to keep themselves and their property safe?
Gary Smith: The holiday season tends to be one of the busier seasons for both police and fire. All the lights and trees tend to be fire issues and unfortunately the season of good cheer tends to allow many of us to let our guard down. If you go shopping, secure your gifts in the trunk of your vehicle. Avoid posting events such as being out of town or visiting family until after you have returned. If you will be gone during the season, have a trusted friend check your home every day. Leave a radio on, turn on the answering maching and have your mail picked up and any other deliveries picked up and removed. Stopping the services is a sign you are gone. Leaving a few lights on and changing the drapes position and lights each day helps to discourage anyone from checking your home out. The sheriff's department offers a home vacation check if you would like to register with them and have no one else to check your residence for you. Do not give out your personal information over the phone or Internet unless you have initiated the transaction and it is a trusted site. Do business with local merchants who you trust and can depand upon to deliver your goods and warranty them if there is a problem. Don't drink and drive. If you are hosting a party, provide non alcoholic beverages and don't let anyone get into their car if they have been drinking beyond an acceptable limit. Enjoy the holiday season. If we can help out with other tips or suggestions, feel free to call us and well will be happy to assist.
Moderator: That's all our time for today. We thank Chief Smith for stopping by and answering questions. We'll publish a transcript of this chat in Wednesday's print Gazette.