Why this is not a "speed trap" town.

For those of you who are being told this is a speed trap town: There are only 11 speeding tickets as of this date for the year(the 154th day of the year). That comes out to 1 speeding ticket every 14 days (2 Weeks)...that is NOT what speed traps do.

Statistics for the year:

http://bloomfieldpd.weebly.com/statistics-and-ordinances.html

Burglaries and doing YOUR part!

As many of you know, one of our businessmen in town had a burglary in the early morning hours of Sunday, May 16th. We have evidence that we have collected and analyzed. We have interviewed and questioned dozens of people and new leads have arisen. I am confident that this case will be closed from an investigative standpoint in the very near future.

I would like to dispel a few myths by pointing out some facts:

1. There was an officer on duty and on active patrol when this incident occurred.

2. Business, Church, and School doors are still checked on a regular basis.

3. This was not a robbery. It was a burglary.

While it really doesn't make much difference to some whether it was a robbery or a burglary, I would urge them to look up the definition of both. I would rather be burglarized than robbed from the aspect of which is more traumatizing and more dangerous.

4. There is no "burglary ring" in Bloomfield. This was an incident perpetrated by one individual.

There was an individual who reported last week that his 4 wheeler was stolen off of his front yard. He stated that for 5 days he did not notice whether it was gone or not. He also stated that he left the keys in the ignition.

While we do our best to patrol the streets at night to prevent these things from happening, if people do not take an active step towards securing their own property there is little we can do to stop a theft from being committed by someone who is determined to complete the crime. All we can hope to do is clean up the mess afterward. Which, by the way, this department has a very good record of doing.

Keep in mind also that a lot (and I do mean a lot) of these types of crimes are committed statewide by juveniles. A police officer can not question a juvenile about a crime. The questioning must be done by an appointed juvenile officer. This can limit the scope of an investigation.

In the meantime, please do what you can to support your police department if nothing more by prayers. Pray for your community....and lock your vehicles and doors at night and when you are gone.

Thanks,

Chief

"Come on, this is Bloomfield!

This morning I had a lady in a local convenience store stop me to ask me a question.

She asked me if I thought our department was getting a little…”slap happy.”

I asked her what she meant and she stated that she had observed an increase in traffic stops and then she said….”Come on, this is Bloomfield.”

I would like to point out that our officers do not stop cars without any legal reason at all. That would be unethical and illegal. We also do not manufacture reasons to pull over cars. If I ever caught an officer doing this he would be fired. If a car is pulled over it is because there was a violation committed. It is our job to advise, warn, and sometimes issue citations to the people who are committing these violations.

If I see a person driving without a license plate light on at night - do I HAVE to stop them? NO. Officers try to use their discretion when stopping cars. At the same time I ask you to look at it like this: If an officer sees a car being driven with a broken license plate light (a legal requirement) and they do not stop them, the officer is not doing their job. Period! I am not recommending that my officers stop every car for a broken license plate light. I am merely pointing out that it IS there job to do so.

In response to, “Come on, this is Bloomfield,” I would like to make a few points.

1. Our job is to enforce the same state statutes as all the other municipal, county, and state agencies in Missouri are mandated by law to enforce.

2. The Bloomfield Ordinances are in essence the same as every other city in Missouri, including St. Louis and Kansas City. These are the basic ordinances that involve traffic enforcement and the keeping of the peace.

3. We take the same oath of office as every other sworn law enforcement officer in Missouri.

In response to, “Come on, this is Bloomfield,” I would like to ask the following questions to a few people:

What makes you or any other person who lives or works in this town so special that they are above being stopped for any violation? Why should we selectively enforce the law just because “This is Bloomfield?” Give me one legal and ethical reason.

While some of you may say that this is not the attitude we need in our town I would also like to point out that this is the type of attitude that is required to enforce the law fairly and firmly.