Please call

I took Friday off last week to help my mother-in-law, and didn’t spend much time in my inbox over the weekend. I get a lot of email—a whole lot—so a weekend of only occasional checks and subject lines leaves me with a sizeable backlog and a lot of catch-up.

A couple of messages (and others I have received in the past) have raised this concern. Folks, sending me an email is NO WAY to notify the police that you are the victim of telephone harassment, your teenage daughter is being stalked, or you are being tailgated by an angry driver having a road rage tantrum. And Crimestoppers is for providing tips on crimes, not for advising the police department that you are following a drunk driver, that the neighbors are playing music so loud the floors are shaking, or that someone dressed in dark clothing seems to be prowling the parking lot.

For about 90 years, the preferred method of calling the police has been to call the police—you know, press the digits on a telephone, then speak. It’s 911 in an emergency, and 441-6000 if you need us but it isn’t an emergency. We have a well-oiled communication process designed to get the information from you and to an officer in the field. If you send the police chief a personal email, post a comment on his blog, send an email to our generic account, or post a Crimestoppers tip about something that actually needs an immediate police response, all you are doing is slowing us down—sometimes by days.

We like to hear from you online, and email is a great way to discuss things with us, but it’s not the way to engage a prompt police response. Call us. We always answer.

Still not immune

At least Officer Jason Wesch wasn’t injured in this crash, but it would sure be nice if drunk drivers would stop running into our patrol cars. If you just can’t help yourself, please select an unoccupied police vehicle, rather than one of our new Chargers.

Holiday shopping

Here’s a list of the goods stolen by shoplifters over the weekend:

BLK FLIRT MAKEUP 12.00
SIL CANDIES HEART KEY CHAIN 14.00
MISC SO HEAD BANDS 8.00
SILV PLUMB WORK LIQUID CONNECTOR 3.66
SILV PLUMB WORKS WATER SAVER SHOWER HEAD 3.47
BOTTLE OF BRANDY (CHRISTIAN BROTHERS) 10.49
SKYY BOTTLE OF VODKA 20.79
RED BULL CAN OF 'ENERGY' DRINK 1.99
CRUZAN BOTTLE OF COCONUT RUM 11.99
ABSOLUT BOTTLE OF VODKA 19.99
CAPT. MORGAN BOTTLE OF 'ORIGINAL' SPICED RUM 15.99
SILVER METAL EARRINGS 7.99
1.75 ML BOTTLE JOSE CUERVO MIXER 17.99
QUATTRO MEN'S RAZOR'S 10.99
WHI EXACT EYELASH MASCARA 5.99
VENTURER LCD 15 IN TV 131.37
BLUERAY DVD BLADE RUNNER 32.99
BLUERAY DVD HANCOCK 29.99
BLUERAY DVD STARTREK 19.99
UNKNOWN AMOUNT OF MEAT
1.75 ML BOTTLE OF CAPTAIN MORGAN RUM 29.99

So far in 2009 (as of 12-13) there have been 1,680 shoplifting cases reported to LPD. Here is the number during the same time period (January 1 through December 13) for each year in this decade:

2008: 1,580
2007: 1,613
2006: 1,395
2005: 1,493
2004: 1,489
2003: 1,495
2002: 1,541
2001: 1,620
2000: 1,465

Cabin fever

Despite the weather, we were surprisingly busy yesterday, with 306 total dispatches: assaults, burglaries, thefts, child abuse, child porn, medical emergencies, child abuse, traffic crashes, you name it—even an indecent exposure. Nebraskan’s are hardy! Quite a few people called us to tell us they were stuck. “Yes, you most certainly are.” And there’s nothing like a foot of snow and a 40 MPH wind to bring these out:

1918: MALE BLOWING SNOW IN THE STREET

1806: BLK PU W/ WRIGHT CONST ON SIDE IN DRIVEWAY...PLOWED SNOW INTO INTERSECTION

1602: SAYS SHE FEELS LIKE HURTING SOMEONE...WILL WAIT OUT BACK SO SHE DOESNT

1550: PRIVATE CONTRACTOR PUSHING SNOW INTO 21 ST

1438:CALLER SAYS HIS ADULT NEIGHBOR IS SHOUTING PROFANITY AT HIM WHILE HE SHOVELS SNOW

1423: LINCOLN CONCRETE PUSHING SNOW INTO STREET WITH TWO RED PU(S)

1422: JL EXCAVATING USING A BOB CAT TO PUT SNOW IN STREET

1404: PARTY BLOWING SNOW INTO THE STREET ALSO ICE CHUNKS HITTING PASSING CARS CHIPPED COMP'S WINDSHIELD

1338: PEOPLE PUSHING SNOW FROM PRIVATE LOT INTO PUBLIC ALLEY

1331: NEIGHBORS USING 4WHEELERS TO PUSH SNOW INTO THE STREET

1303: NEIGHBOR IS BLOWING HIS SNOW DIRECTLY ONTO COMPS HOUSE - ONGOING PROB - ASKED HIM TO STOP AND HE STARTS ALL OVER AGAIN

1243: ATV WITH SNOW BLADE PUSHING SNOW OUT OF HIS DRIVEWAY ACROSS THE STREET AND ONTO THE STREET AND THE SIDEWALK SPACE OCCURRING AT THIS TIME

1223: MAN BLOWING SNOW INTO THE STREET...PLOW DRIVER TOLD HIM TO STOP ....THE MAN FLIPPED HIM OFF AND TOLD HIM TO DO HIS JOB

1014: NEIGHBOR FROM 1224 MULDER PUSHED HIS SNOW ACROSS THE STREET AND BLOCKED COMPS DRIVEWAY CONT PROBLEM AND COMP WANTS CONTACT

0959: KABREDLOS PUSHING SNOW ACROSS THE STREET COMP MAD BECAUSE THEY ARE PUSHING IT UP ONTO THE CURB IN FRONT OF HER HOUSE

0434: SNOWBLOWING HAS STARTED UP AGAIN

0417: IN THIS STRIP MALL, PEOPLE PUSHING SNOW OUT INTO THE STREET FROM THE PARKING LOT

0353: NISSAN PU BATTERY DEAD AND COMP IS VERY COLD ON NORTH PARK ROAD SOUNDS VERY C19 SAID HE GOT OFF WORK AT MIDNIGHT

0322: EX ROOM MATE STRANDED THERE -- IS C19 AND DESTROYING THINGS /// COMPL CALLING BACK SAYS SHE HAS LOCKED HERSELF IN THE BEDROOM

0300: RED JEEP CHEROKEE OUT OF STATE PLATES WAS FALLING DOWN DRUNK AND GOT IN VEH AND THEN GOT STUCK SOMEONE IS TRYING TO PULL HIM OUT NOW

0236: THIS NEIGH OUT ALREADY SNOWBLOWING HIS RESIDENCE

0223: SOMEONE PUSHING SNOW ONTO THE STREETS

0221: PARTYGOERS RUNNING OUTSIDE NAKED IN THE SNOW (FROM GROUND FLOOR APT)

0207: MAINT PUSHING SNOW OUT ONTO THE STREET FROM THE BUSINESS

0148: GF GOT STUCK AND NOW IS FLIPPING OUT AND YELLING AT COMP THEN SAID JUST GET SOMEONE OUT HERE AND TAKE HER AWAY AND HUNG UP

0116: PULLED HIS CAR IN FRONT OF COMP AND BLOCKED HER IN NOW SHE IS STUCK

City Stat launched

As the latest part of his efforts to radically retool the City's budget into a performance-based process, Mayor Chirs Beutler launched City Stat this week. Modelled after the police department's ACUDAT meetings, and with a nod to Baltimore's CitiStat, Lincoln's version is an effort to monitor the City's progress towards achieving it's budget outcomes. For each of the City's eight goals, a City Stat meeting is planned, where the involved departments present an update on each of the performance indicators.

Not surprisingly, the City's top priority (Safety & Security) was the lead-off meeting, meaning the the police department was in the hot seat. With a series of just a handful of PowerPoint slides, I reported on how we are doing on violent crime, property crime, clearance rate, and injury traffic crashes. I used the same graphs that are posted on our public web site's Dashboard, adding a single sentence to summarize how it's going in the current year, through the end of November. Here's what the review of our performance indicators shows:

Violent Crime: We are well within our goal of no more than 555 offenses per 100,000 population, and the violent crime rate is down 8% again so far this year.

Property Crime: Our bellwether offense, the burglary rate, is up 5% this year. Despite this, large decreases last year mean that we are comfortably under the target maximum of 842 offenses per 100,000 population.

Clearance Rate: Through the end of November, our clearance rate is 30%, well over our goal of maintaining a 24% or better rate. It's the highest clearance rate on record.

Injury Traffic Crashes: Our injury crash rate is well under the cap of 850 per 100,000 and is down an additional 2% so far in 2009.

Next up is priority two: Livable Neighborhoods. The police department has a role in that one, too, so we'll be presenting some more progress data at the next meeting on response times and perceptions of neighborhood safety.

Dark, warm, and comfy

Yesterday was the big public hearing on City Council member John Spatz’ proposed ordinance to drastically change how we handle false alarms in Lincoln. There was quite a bit of public testimony. Everyone seems to have their own idea on how the law should work in Lincoln. Personally, I favor the ordinance because it should really motivate the owners of premises with chronic repeat false alarms to do something about it. When you’ve got places with 10 or 20 false alarms in a given year, you wonder whether the $25 fine after the fourth free false alarm is really something they are concerned about, or whether it’s more like the garbage bill—just another cost of doing business.

While delivering my testimony, the subject of the various causes of false alarms came up, and I told the following story from over the weekend, as reported in case number A9-120416 by Officer Jennifer Witzel.

At 1:37 AM on Sunday morning, officer Witzel and her colleagues were dispatched to an alarm at the clubhouse of Wilderness Ridge, where a great restaurant and nice ballroom create a prime location for wedding receptions. The alarm company reported that there were multiple drops on motion detectors—an indicator that someone or something is moving around inside. When the officers arrived, they started checking the interior of the building. Near the main entrance, they discovered the source of the alarm: a 29 year-old South Dakota man, snoozing snugly on a couch in the lobby.

Apparently he had grown drowsy while attending a reception, and his friends had helped him into a coat closet, where he nestled down for a short winter’s nap. When he awoke and exited his comfy confines, he found that the wedding party had departed, the business had closed, and the employees had gone home. Stranded, he laid down on the sofa in his suit and tie for a little more shut-eye. We gave him a ride back to the Embassy Suites, and tucked him in.

Why, by the way, to we still refer to that rectangular plastic card as a key?

Football season wrap-up

Nebraska’s regular season ended Saturday, but for the police department, the Kansas State game on November 21 was the end of our football season—the final home game of 2009. Sgt. Shannon Karl handles the details, and she provided me with the end-of-season wrap-up on the costs. The total cost for overtime was $35,033, an average of $5,005 per game in the season of seven home games.

Over the past several years, we have worked hard to drive those costs down. The City’s budget is tight, and we have tried to reduce these expenses without creating chaos. It has worked. Here’s the run down on the overtime cost per game for the past eight seasons:

2002 = $11,592

2003 = $10,816

2004 = $10,452

2005 = $10,600

2006 = $8,700

2007 = $5,402

2008 = $5,419

2009 = $5,005

The actual dollar amount per game has decreased by 57% during this time period. Base salary during this time period has increased slightly over 22%. Adjusting for the increase in the base, the 2009 cost amounts to a reduction of 65% in overtime expenses per game.

I think we must acknowledge how the new roadways developed as part of the Antelope Valley project have helped move a ton of traffic quite efficiently, but good planning and supervision of the detail has been critical to achieving these results. Sgt. Karl, Sgt. Arp, Capt. Davidsaver, Capt. Citta, and Capt. Kawamoto have managed LPD’s football detail at various times in the past decade, and I appreciate their work and that of all the officers with traffic assignments. I think they’ve done a great job.

Your lid is open!

Cheri Marti manages the group of civilian paraprofessional employees who staff the police service desk around the clock. I sought her help a couple of days ago in locating a teletype message sent from another police department to LPD back in October. She was able to quickly retrieve the message in the log file. Then it struck me: there’s no such thing as a teletype, and hasn’t been for a quarter century or so.

A teletype was an electromechanical device, the “teletypewriter” that fell roughly in between Morse Code and the Internet. It allowed an operator on one end to make key strokes (or feed in a punched tape), causing the characters to be typed on a printer located in another place by sending those electric pulses through a pair of copper wires—a telephone line. If there was a circuit-switched network, an operator in one location could send a message simultaneously to many distant terminals. For several decades, this is how critical information was transmitted among law enforcement agencies—and how the daily news ended up in your local paper from the Associated Press wire.

While the teletype was a machine, if you tore off one of the messages spewing out of the machine, you referred to that printed message as a teletype, too. Here we are, decades after the teletype machine has become obsolete, still referring to the printed output of telecommunications messages delivered by the International Justice and Public Safety Network as…teletypes.

We have other examples of this phenomenon at the police Department. Around the station and on the radio, you will still hear many officers referring to “dispatch cards” even though the record of a police dispatch hasn’t been a card for a couple decades. Lots of telephone terms persist that from a different age and technology. Why to people talk about dialing a phone, or hanging up, and why do you still call the hotel switchboard, when there is no dial, nothing to hang, and no switchboard?

Cheri brought up one of these that had me giggling, when she mentioned the little pantomime we all do when we want someone to roll down their car window. When’s the last time you actually cranked a window down?

One of the things about my blog that makes me smile is the thought that a hundred years from now, someone will discover this archive about policing in Lincoln at the turn of the century, just like we discovered these. I wonder: in the year 2109, will people still be making little circles with their left hand, when they are trying to get you to pop the canopy in order to let you know that you’ve left the lid open on the flux capacitor?