Veteran officers promoted at PBPD

Three veteran Poplar Bluff police officers are taking on new responsibilities after their recent promotions.

“One change near the top of the ladder can affect every person below, as the Poplar Bluff Police Department has just experienced,” explained police Chief Danny Whiteley.

With the recent retirement of deputy chief of police, Donnie Trout, who was second in command, “the organization has experienced a recent ripple effect of promotions to fill his vacancy, as well as the vacancies created by those being promoted, almost weekly, since his departure,” Whiteley said.

The continuity of service, according to Whiteley, has not been interrupted as numerous candidates stood in line to fill those vacancies.

Earning the promotions to lieutenant, sergeant and corporal were Joe Ward, Shonna Grobe and T. J. Akers respectively.

“With the structured environment required of a professional CALEA (Commission for Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies) accredited agency, things of this level of importance tend to be easier as the guidelines and requirement for promotions have been in action for many years,” Whiteley said.

In accordance with CALEA policy, as well as Whiteley’s “personal preferences, multiple law enforcement partners, both federal and state, have assisted in helping select the best possible candidates for promotion.”

Lt. Joe Ward

Ward

Having risen through the police department’s ranks, Joe Ward is looking forward to the challenges awaiting him as its newest lieutenant.

“I’m excited about this position; I’m always up for the challenge,” said Ward.

A 26-year-old veteran, Ward started as a reserve officer in 1990, then was hired full time on Sept. 22, 1993.

“I’ve worked in patrol ever since,” being promoted to corporal in 2009 and sergeant in 2013, Ward said.

“Whenever I first started, you don’t think about being promoted to supervisor, because you learn from the supervisors that are already here,” explained Ward, who later realized those supervisors were “the ones teaching me to take their place.”

During his career, Ward said, the promotions “felt right. … I always wanted more, to become a good supervisor.”

Ward believes a good supervisor is someone who is “willing to take the time to listen to the subordinates and do what they can to make sure” everyone is heard.

Ward described it as a “learning process” moving through the promotions.

“When you get promoted to corporal, it’s the first step above a patrolman,” Ward said. “In each step, whenever you get promoted, there is a new task to take on.”

As supervisor, “you’re not just responsible for yourself,” he said. “You’re responsible for everyone who works under you.

“Now, I am that supervisor who is training the subordinates under me to take my place when I retire.”

Ward said his goal as lieutenant is to do a good job for the city of Poplar Bluff and its citizens, so they have a “good police department to look” to.

Sgt. Shonna Grobe

Grobe

Since being promoted to sergeant, Shonna Grobe has found her daily duties have not changed much.

“It’s just one more step in rank; it’s still the same daily duties,” Grobe said. “In the event our lieutenant is gone, I’ll be the officer in command of the shift for the day, which can happen as a corporal also.

“I did that many times as a corporal.”

The daily duties “are the same, making sure everyone goes home safe at the end of the day (and) writes good, quality reports,” Grobe said. “It’s doesn’t matter if you’re working nights or days or are a corporal or sergeant, you’ve got the same duties.”

Since joining the police department full time in January 2009, “I always wanted to (look) one step ahead in my future,” Grobe explained. “My first goal has been corporal,” a position she was promoted to in December 2015.

“I did it for almost four years” and got “comfortable doing that,” Grobe said. “I really saw myself, if a sergeant’s spot became available, I would be interested in it, and if it didn’t happen this time, I would try for the next one.”

As a supervisor, Grobe said, she sees one of her duties as making sure the officers, who will some day take her place, are groomed “into the officers they want to be, whether they want to be a supervisor” or a detective.

The ultimate goal as a supervisor, she said, is to make sure the people under you also successful.

As for Grobe, “right now, I’m happy where I’m at. … My goal is one step at a time. I can’t look any further than that.”

Cpl. T.J. Akers

Akers

As the police department’s newest corporal, T.J. Akers hopes to mold the officers under him into the best officers they can be.

“I’ve been the range instructor for a long time and taught at the (Missouri Sheriffs’ Association) Academy for 10 years, and I enjoy instructing and helping mold young officers to be the best,” said Akers.

Being a shift supervisor, according to Akers, is another way he can help new and young officers, as well as veteran officers, be better officers.

“I was very excited, very pleased” to have been promoted, said Akers. “I’ve actually put in several times for it. I’ve been wanting to be a supervisor for the last five years.”

In addition to helping his fellow officers, Akers said, he also wants to “learn from my fellow supervisors, so I can be the best supervisor I can be.”

Akers has been with the department since 2008, when he was hired as the part-time bailiff in January and later as a full-time officer in April.

Akers said he worked as a patrolman until 2010 when he became the canine handler, a position he held for five years.

“Then, I came back to the road” as a patrolman, said Akers, who has been the department’s range officer since 2009.

Akers is CIT (crisis intervention training) certified, as well as CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) certified.

The CPTED certification, Akers said, allows him, as an officer, to go out with an architect designing a new building or provide an assessment of an existing building