Police officials weigh in on PBPD location debate

Poplar Bluff Police Department has responded to close to 300 shoplifting complaints so far this year, averaging a little more than one a day.

A map shows the majority of incidents are spread along Westwood Boulevard retailers, most falling south of Pine Street but a growing number to the north.

Average time on scene comes in at precisely 46.22 minutes.

That makes up less than 1 percent of the more than 32,000 incidents, from kidnappings to assaults to traffic stops, that the force has responded to this year, according to statistics provided by Chief Danny Whiteley and Deputy Chief Mike McClain.

It’s information like this they say has helped form a data-driven belief in where a new police department should be located.

“In our expertise the Shelby Road location is by far the recommended location to respond to our most vulnerable places, which would be things such as schools,” Whiteley said. “We’re making our recommendation on factual information, on security assessment and threat assessment.”

The Poplar Bluff City Council is expected to discuss a downtown city hall building site Monday at their regular meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at the Black River Coliseum. Property acquisition is also on the workshop agenda. A location for the property acquisition has not been specified. Neither item is included on the voting session agenda.

In September, the council reviewed options for new city buildings including a police department, city hall and space for city court. This ranged from locating everything downtown, everything on Shelby Road or splitting the services between the two locations.

After a 4-3 vote to move everything to Shelby Road, all council members now say they support keeping city hall downtown.

Council members Steve Davis, Ron Black, Lisa Parson and Shane Cornman have said they continue to believe Shelby Road is an appropriate location for the police department.

Price tags of approximately $16 million to $17 million have been discussed for the options.

Some members of the public have questioned the need to move the police department, its proposed size and details such as the cost of prisoner transport between Shelby and the Butler County jail.

__Shifting call volume__

“Crime trend statistics from the past 10 years indicate the volume of calls has shifted west from Main Street and Broadway areas to areas closer to or associated with Business 67,” according to a report compiled by the police department. “With the westerly shift, response times increased when the department was located on North Second Street. Improvement was seen when the department was relocated to the more central Poplar Street.”

In a report compiled for 2015, calls to Westwood Boulevard topped 1,600. Broadway, Relief, Vine, Fifth, Second and Main streets saw around 900 calls combined for service that year. The department is in the process of compiling current statistics by geographic area.

“Any number we have is documented. We’re not forecasting,” said Whiteley.

__Response times__

Distance to Poplar Bluff school buildings, Three Rivers College and other areas with a high density of people are a concern, said Whiteley. (See page 3 graphic for distance comparison.)

“(Shelby Road) is about as central as we could get for the majority of students,” Whiteley said.

While he hopes and prays Poplar Bluff never faces an active shooter situation at a school, Whiteley pointed out it has happened in Jonesboro, Arkansas and Paducah, Kentucky. Poplar Bluff is not removed from the possibility, he said.

“As everyone knows, response times to an active shooter saves lives. The more people who respond to the threat, you’re going to save lives,” Whiteley said.

__Zone patrols__

The argument has been made that officers patrol from zones, working from a police car rather than the station base.

This does not account for the personnel who are based at the headquarters, according to McClain and Whiteley.

The addition of those men and women would at a minimum double the personnel who can respond to a major incident, Whiteley said. This includes the criminal investigation division of detectives, narcotics, cyber crimes and evidence technicians.

“We’re in the business of doing threat assessment for people and locations in case something happens,” Whiteley said. “There’s a difference between risk avoidance and ignoring risk.

“Proverbs 27:12 says, ‘The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.’”

__Facility needs__

Consultant Navigate has estimated a size of 27,000 square feet for a proposed police department. The estimate was based on conversation with police staff and construction of similar police departments, according to the consultant.

The department needs more than office space, McClain points out.

Dispatch is currently located off site at Three Rivers College.

Long term evidence storage is spread across four locations, protected by alarms and live feed video surveillance. An enclosed space large enough to process vehicles for evidence is among those locations.

A training and practice room that could accommodate a minimum of 40 people is needed not only for the police department, McClain explained.

The police department also serves as an emergency operations center for Butler County during major events, such as flooding, severe winter weather and other incidents.

“We’ve had 50-80 people, with people lining the hallway here,” Whiteley said of the current location at 1111 Poplar St.

Temporary holding cells are also needed for men, women and juveniles, he said. Increased regulations require more “sight and sound” separation for these areas.

The current building is also operating with one bathroom for prisoners and one bathroom for the department’s 44 commissioned officers, other personnel and members of the public.

__Prisoner transport__

Questions have also been raised regarding increased expense or time to transport prisoners from Shelby Road to Butler County jail, rather than a downtown location.

“That’s a talking point for people who don’t agree with our assessment,” said Whiteley. “A lot our prisoners are transport directly to the county.”

Prisoners only come to headquarters when an interview is done or an updated photo is needed, he said.

There have been 92 prisoner transports, year-to-date, according to an incident analysis.

“The incidental cost to transport prisoners from Shelby to Butler County jail would be very minimal, if any,” McClain said. “Even more so, it would be very minute compared to the current cost of transport goods and services to the multiple temporary facilities that we are using.”

The city pays $5,000 in rent per month at the Poplar Street headquarters and additional fees at other sites.