Thursday, January 22, 2015

Uniformed officers rock!

Reading reports this morning, I encountered case number B5-005807, a robbery at gunpoint of a pizza delivery driver last night around 10:00 PM. Officer Russell Schoenbeck was assigned, and enlisted a lot of assistance from his fellow officers on the late night shift. In short order, the officers had tracked back a telephone number, and obtained a suspicious vehicle description from a neighborhood canvas. It wasn't long before other officers spotted the vehicle on the move, swooped in for the stop, and located key evidence. The suspects were taken into custody. All in all, great work leading to a good arrest.

It's the second robbery of a pizza delivery driver this year, and may have prevented more of these. We had seven delivery drivers robbed last year. What makes me especially pleased about this case is the initiative shown by all involved. Trust me, in many police department's of this size around the country, the uniformed officer would have done a preliminary investigation, filed an Incident Report, and been done. A detective would be assigned to the case a day or three later, and by that time the followup trail would be cold.

Not so in Lincoln, where our uniformed street officers have the training, skill, and experience to initiate their own followup investigation immediately. It's expected by all, and practiced regularly. This is why LPD officers who relocate to other departments are typically tapped for criminal investigations assignments in short order: they've got plenty of experience interviewing, processing evidence, obtaining search warrants, and similar tasks that are not necessarily common for uniformed officers in other big cities where the street officers don't have the same experience in the details of criminal investigation.

It's also why a number of LPD officers over the years have been tapped by the DEA, ATF, FBI, Secret Service, and have hit the ground running. They've accumulated talents, skill, and practice that many city officers just don't get very much opportunity to develop.

It hasn't always been that way. When I first pinned on the badge, every uniformed officer's badge was embossed with "Traffic Division," and we weren't expected to be bright enough to actually conduct investigations. That was the realm of the detectives, who stepped in and took over anything much bigger than a drunk or a panhandler. It was the source of considerable frustration for many uniformed officers of my era, who yearned for more respect, greater responsibility, and job enrichment.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Director,
In the past the "beat" cop visited with citizens in the coffee shops, grocery stores, barber shops etc and may have actually lived in the neighborhood he patrolled. The "BEAT " cop of fifty years ago is now doing his rounds in a patrol car with modern information systems on the dashboard of his car.

A good set of ears has always been an advantage for a law enforcement officer. WOW do they have big ears and eyes now! I followed part of the Pizza Hut robbery on the scanner last night. Great job guys.

Gun Nut

Anonymous said...

How old and which sex is the "teen" that was also arrested in connection with this incident?

Tom Casady said...

11:08,

Male and 15.

Anonymous said...

From 10/21/2013:

Assault

Brookins, Dantevian D., 19, 5310 Ervin St., 18 months’ probation

Apparently, he was still on wrist-slap probation.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of the past, would love to see LPD officers today mandatorily wear their peaked caps. LPD has sharp looking caps and they look sharp on the officers! Just sayin'.....

Anonymous said...

B5-005958 - was that hot-wired, or was the key left in the truck?

Tom Casady said...

2:58,

Key above visor, (sigh.)

Tom Casady said...

Here's how it seemed to work: during your tavern checks on Beat 3, you'd arrest some bird and his moll trying to pass a counterfeit sawbuck at the Morocco Lounge. The detectives would swoop in and take over. The next day at roll call, the lieutenant would brief the shift on the nice collar made by Detectives X and Y, and you'd be sitting in the back row with your notebook on your knee, pencil in hand, sweltering in your reefer, thinking "WTH?"

Anonymous said...

"Key above visor"

They were unacquainted with the concept of a secure key locker at that facility, I suppose.

Anonymous said...

Chief,

Is that where the phrase "reefer madness" originated?

Anonymous said...

I think the LPD daily incident page might need "unstuck" again (it's still on 1/22 @0300):

http://cjis.lincoln.ne.gov/~lpd/cfstoday.htm

Tom Casady said...

11:10,

Thanks, I'll look around for than can of WD-40....