2008 Annual Report

Leawood Police
2008 Annual Report
Royal honors
Four members of the Leawood Police Department Honor
Guard — Cpl. Ken Whiteside, Dave Jennings, Sgt. Mark
Hackathorn and Robert Mahon — present the colors at
Kauffman Stadium before a Kansas City Royals game. This
one of four trips that the honor guard made to Kauffman Stadium in 2008. They also presented the colors during the city’s
60th Anniversary parade, at Arrowhead Stadium and at a variety of other community events throughout the year.
Cops grab boxing belts
M
aking their formal boxing debuts, Officer Anne
Wagoner and Cpl. Kirt Yoder both came away with
championship belts at the 4th annual Guns N’
Hoses boxing event on Nov. 15, 2008.
Seeking a challenge, Wagoner and Yoder were two of
many local police officers, fire fighters and emergency service personnel who volunteered to compete in the charity
boxing event that benefits S.A.F.E./Surviving Spouse and
Family Endowment Fund, a Kansas City-metro program
See Champions, page 6
www.leawood.org/police
Leawood Police 2008 Annual Report
From the Chief
T
he first line of the Leawood
Police Department’s Vision
Statement says, “The Leawood Police Department will continually work to maintain the
highest quality of public service
for everyone in our community.”
We take these words seriously
and everyday it is our goal to deliver that level of service. We believe that for the community to
John M. Meier evaluate and judge us they need to
Chief of Police know how well we are doing our
job. In the past we have added the
crime mapping feature to our website so citizens could
see the number and types of crimes in their neighborhood. To further assist us in measuring the community’s satisfaction, this past year we initiated an online
survey where we encourage the community to evaluate
the police department.
The days of a police department setting priorities without input from the community have long past.
It is important that our goals and those of the community are in sync and the problems we perceive are also
problems the community sees. The online survey provides citizens the opportunity to prioritize issues that
they feel the police department should address. It also
gives citizens the chance to evaluate our employees.
Whether their contact with us is from a call for service, a traffic stop, or some other interaction. I would
encourage citizens to take the survey on the Police
Website. The survey is anonymous unless a citizen
requests to be contacted and leaves an email address.
2008 was a year in which our Part 1 crimes
(homicide, robbery, rape, aggravated assault, burglary,
theft, stolen auto and arson) were down 21% from the
previous year. In addition Part II crimes, those less
serious, were down 19%, and the number of auto
crashes was down 15% from 2007. Our reported
crimes are at the lowest level in five years and with the
community’s help we hope to continue this trend in
2009. It’s not clear how the current economic situation will affect crime rates in the coming year, but the
continued cooperation between the police and community will be necessary for whatever the future brings.
In closing I would like to thank the citizens
and elected officials for their support of the police department. I would also like to thank the employees for
the professional way they do their job every day and
send a special welcome to Police Officer Jesse Ryman
who has returned to the department after being deployed for most of last year to Iraq. We look forward in
2009 to providing the outstanding level of police service this community has come to expect.
Farris, Farquhar are
named top employees
B
ased on nominations
from their peers, Master
Patrol
Officer
Shawn
Farris and Public Service Officer
Christina Farquhar were chosen
as the 2008 Officer and Civilian
Employee of the Year.
In his nomination, Farris
was recognized as one of the
department’s “givers,” recognizing all of the things that he does Shawn Farris
for the Leawood Police Department: Field Training Officer, fitness coordinator, defensive tactics and baton instructor both
here and at the regional police
academy. Shawn has also been
a frequent participant in the
department’s many
Special
Olympics activities.
In just her first year with the
Christina
department, Farquhar has made
Farquhar
a strong impression as another
“giver.” Since she was hired in
July of 2007, she has volunteered to be “Tasered”
for a Citizen’s Police Academy demo and served as
a role player in officers’ practical training drills, all
in addition to her regular duties around the department.
Other Award Winners
•
•
•
•
Jordan Couturier won the department’s Top
Gun trophy in December, finishing first in the
annual shooting competition.
Erik Butler and Shane Chambers received Lifesaving Awards at the KMBC-TV-9 /Metro
Chiefs and Sheriffs Association Awards for
Valor Ceremony on Nov. 13th. They were recognized for their actions on April 25th, when they
revived a woman who had been involved in a
crash as a result of a medical condition.
She had no pulse when Erik and Shane pulled
her from her car.
In May, Lee Graves placed second at the Heartland Police Motorcycle Rodeo, finishing 1/2
second behind the winner in his first time in
the event.
In July, Dan Reedy was awarded the Herb
Shuey Scholastic Award as the top scholar in
the 88th graduating class from the Johnson
County Regional Police Academy.
www.leawood.org/police
Leawood Police 2008 Annual Report
Last year, by the numbers
In 2008, the men and women of the
• 18,912 traffic stops
• 2,029 alarms
• 1,149 911 calls
• 965 warrant arrests
• 836 medical calls
• 634 crashes (0 fatal)
• 373 thefts (46 id thefts)
• 273 DUI arrests
• 173 disturbances
• 149 civil matter calls
• 113 solicitor complaints
• 111 drug possession arrests
• 106 fireworks complaints
• 91 vandalism calls
• 72 assault/battery calls
• 51 burglary calls
• 38 minors possessing
alcohol
• 14 auto thefts
• 4 criminal threats
• 4 robberies
• 0 homicides
Officers completed...
• 3,583 reports
• 12,733 tickets
• 65 car seat checks
Leawood Police Department handled:
Limiting crashes
The Traffic Management Unit, which
includes the police motorcycle unit and
traffic safety officers, worked diligently
to educate the public and enforce traffic
laws, particularly in complaint areas.
During the last year, the Traffic Unit’s
six members:
• Issued 6508 citations
(51% of the department’s total)
• Deployed the radar trailer in 15 complaint locations
Their efforts assisted the department in lowering the overall crash
total to 634, a decrease of 15%.
The police department as a whole handled 634 crash reports,
136 of which involved some injury and 33 of which involved alcohol.
The top crash locations within the city were:
1. I-435 corridor
52 crashes
2. 133rd & State Line
3. (tie) 119th & Tomahawk Creek
College & Tomahawk Creek
135th & State Line Road
95th & State Line Road
103rd & State Line Road
11 crashes
8 crashes
8 crashes
8 crashes
8 crashes
8 crashes
Policing the Animals
Can’t outrun our ACOs— Animal
Control Officer Jerry Webb holds a pet
tortoise that was found wandering before being returned home.
In 2008, Leawood Animal Control Officers handled:
• 1,253 calls for assistance, a 10% increase
• 320 animal reports
• 275 self-initiated calls
The 3-member unit dealt with:
• 394 loose animals
• 219 impounds,
of which 117 or 53% were reclaimed
• 118 deceased animals picked up
• 113 injured animals
• 67 dog complaints, a 29% decrease
• 14 dog bite reports
• 10 complaints of neglect
•9 cat complaints
•2 other animal bite reports
•and tranquilized 4 animals
How are we doing? www.leawood.org/police/citizensurvey.aspx
Leawood Police 2008 Annual Report
On-line survey Answering alarm calls
Last year Leawood emergency personnel were sent to inseeks input
vestigate 2,029 alarms. Among the 1,989 alarms that person-
T
ON THE AIR
he Leawood Police Department has always enjoyed
strong support from the
public it serves. Now, in an effort
to give our public a stronger voice,
a new internet-based survey has
been developed.
Created through the web
site SurveyMonkey, the survey
was first posted in September and
attracted 76 responses before it
was replaced by a more detailed
survey in late December. Opinions
remain anonymous, although the
public is given the option to leave
a phone number or e-mail address
if they’d like to speak to someone
about their views.
The survey can be reached
through the police department’s
web page (www.leawood.org/
police/citizensurvey.aspx). The
survey is now being publicized on
the bottom of police business
cards and citations as well as in
mailings to home owners groups.
nel actually arrived at, 1,052 were residential alarms, 468
business burglary/security alarms, 92 residential fire alarms
and 77 business fire or medical alarms. Only 25 of these were
valid alarms. In an effort to further decrease the number of
false alarms, 13 False Alarm Prevention programs were presented to a total of 109 attendees.
K9s find more weed
During the last year, Leawood K9s Rocco and Duke completed:
• 149 deployments (including 40 for other agencies)
• 83 vehicle searches
• 26 tracks or area searches
• 13 public demonstrations
• 2 building searches
• 2 article or evidence searches
• 4 other drug searches
The two Belgian Malanois canines
uncovered 590.2 grams of marijuana
(nearly double last year’s amount of
276.6 grams), 8.1 grams of cocaine,
and 55 pieces of drug paraphernalia.
The dogs, which are handled by Greg
Turney and Jim Herman, assisted in
the arrest of 11 felons and 45 others on various misdemeanor charges.
The department’s Communications Specialists in
2008:
• answered 89,606 phone calls, including 13,253 91-1 calls, an increase of 14.3% over 2006;
• dispatched 13,253 assignments
• made 382,593 ALERT* inquiries, an average of 43
inquiries per hour;
• made 172,785 NCIC inquiries, an average of 20 per
hour, and nearly 25,000 more than last year;
• made 149,933 inquiries of the Missouri license records;
• made 139,455 inquiries of the Kansas license records, 18,651 more than 2007;
• made 3,434 ALERT entries (stolen auto, missing
person or warrant information)
*ALERT=Automated Law Enforcement Response
Team - a Kansas City metro area computerized information resource.
The top citations in ‘08
Speeding* (all versions)
6,644
*Average of 15.49 mph
over the posted limit
Expired or no license tag 1,269
No proof of insurance
849
Fail to wear Seat Belts
758
Driving while suspended
459
Switched license plates
201
Fail to stop @ steady red
167
Fail to stop at a stop sign 152
Inattentive driving
144
Driving without a license
143
Unsafe turn or stop
112
No DL in possession
85
Refuse Prelim. Breath Test 84
Traffic lane violations
80
Misc. parking violations
70
Child restraint violations
52
How are we doing? www.leawood.org/police/citizensurvey.aspx
Leawood Police 2008 Annual Report
Ryman returns from Iraq deployment
D
uring a time of war, the armed forces will
often look to reserve troops to fulfill orders calling for an increase in the number of soldiers serving overseas. Police Officer
Jesse Ryman has been a member of the United
States Marine Corp Individual Ready Reserve
(IRR) for the last three years and as a member of
IRR he could be called to active duty at a moment’s notice.
That notice for Ryman came late in 2007 and
by May 2008 he reported to Camp Pendleton,
Calif. for training. A presidential order activated
a large number of troops in the IRR and Ryman
was on the list. When given the option to delay
his deployment to a later date, Ryman declined.
“I signed a contract and delaying would go
against what I believe,” Ryman said.
Upon completion of training, he received his
unit assignment and was deployed to Camp Fallujah, Iraq. Ryman held a variety of positions
while at Camp Fallujah. He was initially assigned to “Force Protection” as the midnight
shift squad leader. His squad manned the two
entry control points of Camp Fallujah seven
days a week from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Transitioning to life in Iraq can be difficult
for some Marines. Ryman, however, had previously completed four years of active duty and
this was his third deployment to the Middle
East. His prior experience seemed to help him
g
r
e
a
t
l
y
.
Lieutenant
Kevin Cauley
“I was glad to do
it,” Ryman said. “It
didn’t
take
a
whole lot of adjusting.”
After a
brief stint with the
Quick
Reaction
Force,
Ryman
spent the remainder of his deployment supervising
Pumphouse FlanMarine Sergeant/Officer ders just outside
of Camp Fallujah.
Jesse Ryman
Ryman was in
charge of the day to day operations of the pumphouse, which supplied water to all of Fallujah.
His responsibilities included assigning tower duties, ensuring that the weapons are fully functional, as well as aiding the local population with
food and water.
In December 2008, Ryman’s deployment
came to an end. He flew back to the United
States on the first ever commercial flight out of
Iraq and eventually made it home on December
22. Ryman returned to the Leawood Police Department in January 2009 where he resumed
his position on dayshift patrol.
- by Officer Jarris Krapcha
2008 Promotions
Sergeant
Tim Anderson
Master Police Officer
David Winders
Communications Officer 3
Corporal
Kirt Yoder
Communications Officer 3
Communications Officer 2
David Klingler
Kallie Turnbow
www.leawood.org/police
Tim Klaassen
Leawood Police 2008 Annual Report
New to the Staff
Zach Buescher
Communications
Officer
Bradey Ewy
Police Officer
The champions — Anne Wagoner (left photo, center) lands a right
against her opponent during the 2008 Guns N Hoses charity boxing event.
Wagoner and Cpl. Kirt Yoder each received champions belts after winning
their respective bouts.
Curtis Rice
Police Officer
Champions (continued from page 1)
that provides financial and emotional support to the families of
emergency services personnel who’ve died on duty. The event also
benefits area juvenile boxing programs.
Their championship journey started more than two months
ago when they began training for the event. To be considered for
one of the slots on the final night, volunteers had to participate in a
minimum number of conditioning and training sessions. For Wagoner and Yoder, the sessions soon became much more frequent.
“You had to be motivated to go as much as possible,” said
Wagoner, who’d never laced up a pair of gloves beforehand. “It was
one of the toughest workouts I’ve ever been through.”
“It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. You had to
(complete) a minimum of 15 sessions, but if you only go to 15 you
don’t stand a chance,” said Yoder. “We went to at least 24 sessions,
maybe closer to 30. The last 4 weeks I was going four times a week.”
On the big night, Wagoner was pitted against Johnson
County Sheriff's Deputy Heather Weese in the 10th of 19 fights. Organizers attempted to match combatants with a similarly sized and
experienced opponent. Yoder followed Wagoner three fights later,
battling Overland Park Fire Fighter Danny Meeker, who had competed in several past Guns N’ Hoses events. The fights consisted of
three one-minute rounds following national amateur boxing regulations. With all of their preparation behind them, the time leading up
to the fight was tense.
“The day of the fight I had some nervousness and anxiety.
The first 8 fights I stood on the floor and watched them (before
warming up himself), but I couldn’t tell you about them,” said
Yoder. “During the fight I didn’t hear anything or see anything other
than my opponent.”
Now with a chance to rest on their laurels, neither seems
content to close this chapter on their lives. In fact, both are already
thinking ahead to next year and Wagoner has even returned to the
gym for another training session.
- Sgt. Brad Robbins
www.leawood.org/police
Ellen Tangen
Police Officer
Jerrod Wilson
Police Officer
Adding to
the ranks
I
n order to fill openings
in the department, Sgt.
Tom Hogard, the Professional Standards Officer,
took in 118 applications for
our single communications
officer position.
For the four open officer
positions, Sgt. Hogard received 316 applications,
gave 200 written tests with
90 (45%) passing scores. Of
those who passed, 62 were
scheduled for oral boards
and 32 of these (51.6%)
passed and were eligible for
interviews with the Chief.