Online Chat - Emporia Police Chief
September 25, 2009
Emporia police chief Gary Smith will answer your questions about Emporia's police department.
Moderator: Our guest today is Gary Smith, Emporia's chief of police. Our readers have submitted a variety of questions for him, so sit back, keep hitting your refresh button and follow along.
ascwrangler: How do you and your officers feel about the concealed weapons permit issue? Does dispatch warn the officer when they are checking the license holders driving record that they are a permit holder?
Gary Smith: I won't speak for my officers. The law provides for individuals to carry a concealed weapon. When individuals follow any law responsibly there should be no law enforcement issue. At this point and time, information as to if a person has a concealed carry permit does not appear when officers run a license plate or driver history. That practice has been changed by the legislature; however, and will become effective sometime in the future. I would suggest that if approached on a traffic stop by the officer, if you are carrying a weapon, concealed or not, it would be wise to inform the officer of that fact.
rabblerouser: Dear Sir: Why are your officers reluctant to enforce the law at LaCastitas Park when reports of illegal parking and the noise too loud are called in? Your dispatcher was overheard telling officers at the last event that "If we get a report, you have to go talk to them". And we have heard officers tell each other "Wait until we get a complaint". Even though they observe the law being broken with their own eyes????
Gary Smith: Without any specific examples it is difficult to respond to the term "reluctant." Officers do have discretion to allow for a warning prior to actually taking enforcement action. We so try to gain voluntary compliance and often if there is a celebration going on in any location and there are no complaints, officers have discretion to not take enforcement action. We also take into consideration the time of day, day of the week, and the types of events going on. There are activities that take place in many of the city parks that officers provide discretion to allow community gatherings.
solong: Why aren't Emporia's traffic laws more vigorously enforced, in particular coming to a full stop behind stop signs and turning into the proper lane from intersections. Many people don't seem to know the law or chose to ignore it, Emporia could be safer, the bad drivers would be accountable, and revenue would be boosted as a result of making people accountable for not complying with the laws.
Gary Smith: Our officers do work traffic enforcement on a regular basis. Part of traffic enforcement is education and working toward voluntary compliance. We use a traffic enforcement plan based on accident data, traffic violation reports and traffic density counts. If you have a specific location you would like to see our officers work, please call our office at 343-4200. We can place our speed display trailer, do a traffic survey and make use of our traffic officers as needed.
1mafia: I know the EPD has a hard job to do everyday. But lately i have had a few problems and it seems everything these days is a civil matter. I remembedr years ago when officer >>>> would always be able to show you the city statute. Sry if spelled wrong. And I dont think there is enough interaction with the EPD anymore.
Gary Smith: You mention that years ago things were different and I agree. In my 28 years of police work things have really changed. Things we used to do we are no longer able to do so. The focus now is on trying to find solutions, not merely writing a ticket or giving someone a ordinance number and telling them they are on their own. Our officers do an excellent job of problem solving and trying to find solutions. If you have a specific concern I would encourage you to call me directly at 343-4200. Also, thanks for recognizing the hard work of our officers and staff. I'm very proud of them.
countrydog: why do we have a turn over in your dept?
Gary Smith: All organizations experience some turnover due to retirements and people finding better job opportunities. I'm not sure how or what you are basing your statement on. The past two years have seen a lower turnover rate in the police department than has been the case in many years. The changes in 2008 and 2009 were almost exclusively people who reached retirement age. We were able to replace two vacant police officer positions that have been vacant for several years with a grant that the Commission was kind enough to approve. One employee moved out of town but later returned to us. By most standards, our team of staff members is quite stable.
countrydog: what is going to happen to ex williams? what is the new policy on wrecker towes? what has happened to all the drug busts that used to happen? is the drug dog still a live?or has your dept cleaned up the city?why does the dept spend some much time on pissing in public when we have so much dope in town?
Gary Smith: Tow truck calls are based on a rotation. The one major change is the city will be impounding their own vehicles soon to save money. Drug enforcement is active and actually at a six year high with respect to active cases, forfeitures. The big difference is we partner with other law enforcement agencies and work cooperatively with them. It's not about who gets all the media attention: It's about keeping our community safe. Our K-9 unit is still very active and functional. Again, it's about dealing with the concerns of criminal activity, not so much the limelight.
moderator: How have budget cuts impacted your department?
Gary Smith: The city commissioners placed public safety as a priority. Despite the funding cuts, we are able to maintain our staffing levels, continue to update our aging vehicle fleet and stay competitive with salaries. For example, a recent hire cycle brought 3 officers to our agency that were already certified and collectively brought over 30 years of street experience to our department. This was a significant cost savings in training time and shortened the turnaround time necessary to get officers on the street working. We are seeing a positive trend toward Emporia being an attractive place for women and men to start and finish their law enforcement careers. We are proud of our staff and the working environment we enjoy. We have adjusted some of our policing strategies and evaluated our programs to get through the lean times. Hopefully there will be minimum disruption to service to our customers.
moderator: What are some of the needs your department has?
Gary Smith: What are some of the needs your department has? We would like at some time to get officers back into the schools as juvenile officers. We are looking forward to filling the vacant deputy chief position. Right now we try to cover that area with street officers when they have the time to do so. We'd also like to expand our crime prevention services to the community at some time. We would like to better expand our partnership with the county attorney on education and prevention of domestic violence and violence in general. As the complexities of the reporting requirements required by state and federal officials increase, we need to keep current with new technologies such as the new electronic ticket writing program we have implemented and invest in tools such as traffic display counters and tools we can share with the community to partner in stopping and preventing both crime but also be better able to address quality of life issues that impact our residents and business owners. We also need to keep a close watch on our time demands for service and decide either a) what services can be cut or b) is there a desire to invest in additional staffing to cover those services and needs.
moderator: You have been doing some restructuring of your department tell us about some of those changes?
Gary Smith: The initial feedback internally has been positive. There are more field supervisors and officers available now. We have investigators who now work on weekends and late into the evenings. We are looking at more efficiencies that would allow for us to extend our counter hours and to better serve the needs of our customers.
JWerly: I don't know if this is the type of question you can answer on here, so if not, please disregard. I am trying to find out if someone has a suspended drivers license if they can drive a moped 50cc or less. We have been given different answers from officers and the DMV. Thank you.
Gary Smith: The best way to address this question would be for you to call our office at 343 -4200 and speak to one of our patrol supervisors. There are a variety of conditions that would come into play under the general question you have asked.
builderboy: Gary- I have been told for years that the rumor about an officer is expected to get a certain number of tickets per month is false. I then have heard recently that all epd officers are expected to write a minimum of ten parking and ten moving violations per month. Is this true??
Gary Smith: We require our staff members to make a minimum number of contacts per month as part of their overall goals and objectives for the year. Contacts might range from business checks, programs and traffic contacts. Contacts from traffic could be a warning or a citation. we do expect officers to enforce traffic and parking violations. In some cases, depending on performance there might be a target in which we expect an officer to show at least satisfactory performance. Proactive policing requires us to respond to situations before they become a complaint is often made such as parking and traffic violations. Officers have discretion but we expect that they fulfill a full activity of policing activities each shift they work. This means more than simply driving around for 8 or10 hours a day. Fortunately, our officers do a fine job of striking a balance.
builderboy: What should a citizen do if they witness an epd officer driving, and make a moving violation? I.E. not coming to a complete stop. Display of power, following to closley, etc.
Gary Smith: A person who feels an officer is driving in violation of the law can get the unit number and call in to speak to a supervisor. We will research to see if the officer was responding to an emergency call or trying to stop a vehicle. Our officers, in my opinion set a good example during normal driving conditions. They are permitted to violate some laws and parking ordinances during a response to an urgent call. If you would like to make an inquiry, you may call our office at 343-4200.
jamesbordonaro: Will you please consider changing the policy of having police officers "spy" on local bars and adjacent parking lots in an attempt to catch open container violations?
Gary Smith: It's been my experience that our officers generally don't have to sneak around or "spy" on anyone. There are too many folk out there who find us in the process of doing something illegal. There is an expectation from the state beverage control division that we assist in the enforcement of liquor laws. Our bicycle officers generally do a great job of balancing this effort. I've been told by a number of license holders that they appreciate the officers stopping by and checking to make sure things are ok. Simply put, if you have a liquor license, you have a license for a controlled substance. With that is an expectation that there will be compliance checks and inspections for the basic safety and quality of life issues of residents and patrons.
AverageCitizen2: Has any additional progress been made in apprehending other suspects in the Omar Flores shooting?
Gary Smith: Our investigators continue to work with other agencies to develop leads in the case. There are persons of interst and investigators are working with the county attorney's office, state and federal law enforcement agencies to identify them and to look into any possible connection into the recent homicide. I would encourage anyone with information in connection to the shooting to call our office at 343-4200 or Lyon County Crimestoppers.
Moderator: That's all we've got time for today. Our thanks to Chief Smith for coming in and to you, our readers, for asking your questions.