 MONTHLY
COLUMN (C-T)
By Jon Maples, Chief, City of Chillicothe Police Department
January
17, 2019 - Well, I have finished the first year as being your Chief of Police. It
has certainly been a ride. It has had its ups and downs; but it has been
amazing to be part of something so great. We, as the Chillicothe Police
Department, have accomplished a lot this first year - and I say we. This
has been a team effort among the staff at the Chillicothe Police
Department, City of Chillicothe Council and Administration, and you, the
citizens of Chillicothe, through strong partnership. I want you to
know what is going on with your department.
In 2018, we applied for and received several grants in the amount of
almost $100,000, saving the city and you, the citizens, that
amount. We want to be smart with your money and get as much equipment for the men and
women who serve and protect you as possible. These grants have purchased
equipment such as in-car computers, license plate readers, rapid
identifiers, vehicle weapon mounts, trauma kits, new holsters, a new
uniform change, a new police department surveillance system, and our
livescan system. This has been a team effort in applying for and
receiving grants. I want to commend Sergeant Jeremy Stephens for helping
in this area.
The new updates
create high morale for the staff at the police department. The in-car computers will assist officers while they are on
the roads and in the community protecting you. These items help make the patrol
vehicles the officers' office. The license plate readers help us during
crime scenes, to locate license violations, and will also help in locating
missing and wanted people. The trauma kits, God forbid we ever have to use
them, are there to save lives. We have also changed to a more professional type of
uniform. We had tactical vests before I was Chief. I am old school when it comes to our police uniforms. We are
professionals and need to look as such, but I did take the
officers' concerns into account because I care about our staff. We kept an outer
vest carrier so that the heavy gear does not cause back injuries while on
the belt. The vest blends in with our duty shirts and has the old school
professional police officer look but has the equipment on the vest to be
easily accessible and comfortable. Lastly, but most importantly, the city
worked with the police department on purchasing new radios for the police
department and fire department. Our radios were purchase in the late
1980's to early 1990's. They did not work like they should and posed a
major officer safety issue. At the request of the officers, I took this
concern before city administration and the council. They quickly approved
this purchase at the request of the police and fire department. We now
have a new digital radio system in place, and it works great. We can also
access MoSWIN to communicate with the sheriff's office and other agencies.
During this first year under my leadership, our staff has
accomplished many positive things. Our goal is to be positive role models for the
kiddos in our community, influential leaders, and peacekeepers. This
staff has done that and will continue to serve and protect you. We are
constantly striving to better service our community. We had our first new
era Citizen's Police Academy, which was a success, we will continue to
participate in partners in education with our third grade class, we have
attended hundreds of community events and interacted with the community,
we started intruder presentations for churches and businesses, coffee with
a cop, youth safety talks, interacting with the kiddos at the schools
monthly, and are continuing to come up with better ways to show our focus
of community oriented policing. We have implemented a new standard of
police policy within our department.
Lastly, we have completed
our year-end number (that will be in a separate press release). Our staff has shown that they care for their community.
My goal as your Police Chief is to keep our amazing community safe. In
doing so I work with the police staff proactively. Our proactive numbers
are up 60%. What is that? That is traffic enforcement, arrests,
community programs, business checks, and much more. Our investigations
and incident reports are up 11%, while our calls for service are up 26%
for the patrol division. Calls coming through the dispatch center
are up 22% from last year. This has been a very busy year for the police
department staff. They have been both proactive and reactive to the
everyday order of Chillicothe in attempt to keep you safe. I am very
proud of the staff at the Chillicothe Police Department for working beside
me in accomplishing many goals and continuing to become the best version
of us we can be. I am proud of the way the officers are becoming more
approachable to the citizens and the kiddos.
In closing, I want to thank you for supporting the police department
staff. We hope to have your continued support as we grow a strong
partnership with you as a community. Without community support, our job
is hard. I would also like to thank everyone who has provided pointers
and concerns out through the year. I would like to thank my wife, family,
the staff, city administration, and other department heads for their
assistance in our success. If you are reading this, this is a personal
thank you to you as well.
October
2018 | February
2018 | January
2018
Please email us at
contactus@chillimopd.org. Likewise, if you have a complaint or concern you wish to discuss with our department, we would also like to hear from you. We take pride in serving you!
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