Edgewater Police Report: 4/9/2017-4/15/2017

NEWS RELEASE
4/9 – 4/15/2017

Contact Person: Chief John Mackey

Contact: 720-763-3000 – Jmackey@edgewaterpd.com

Communication Changes

As a police officer I started this career with pen, paper and lots of “white out”, before word processors and computers became the norm. I recall talking to elementary age children about one of the most important pieces of equipment being my pen, and that learning to write the entire alphabet in block letters was critical to my job. I showed the students police reports that contained individual pages that were five sheets thick and required you to push hard on your pen to insure that all five copies came through. The reports hopefully displayed legible sentences and paragraphs and I explained the need for a dictionary to assure my reports were accurate for the many persons who would read them.

I have transitioned from driving handwritten media releases to all of the local television stations, to weekly cable police shows to this newest medium, Nextdoor. Initially I began communicating with you on Nextdoor with an individual account, although we recently learned that there was an agency site that was recommended to us. Unfortunately, we are no longer able to view your many comments or concerns on the Nextdoor site. We now need you to contact us directly on our Edgewater Police agency account and we will respond to your questions or concerns. We recently started an Edgewater Police Twitter account, and will work diligently to enhance our communication with each of you. We will be transitioning to the new Beat System shortly in which our Police Officers will be assigned to small neighborhood areas of about 4-6 blocks – the officers will be contacting Nextdoor neighbors shortly.

Although my career has transitioned through multiple communication mediums, they all have required sufficient personnel to communicate effectively. Unfortunately for a small agency we are short staffed currently which has impacted our ability to keep abreast of these timely news releases. I am looking at multiple options to provide you regular crime statistics which we will work diligently to pass on.

Nextdoor and Neighborhood Watch are Growing!

Our tremendous volunteer, Lorenzo Rendon has done an exceptional job in his first year as Neighborhood Watch Coordinator. Lorenzo has spoken to many of you and is arranging block meetings for this spring. As we begin to identify and sign our Neighborhood Watch Blocks, we will also begin the process of comparing crime statistics in Watch Blocks compared to all other blocks. The NW program has historically been extremely successful in deterring crime, and I’m certain it will do the same for Edgewater. Our Edgewater Police Department Volunteers are researching methods to increase our Neighborhood Watch participation and participation in Nextdoor Edgewater. Both of these programs allow us to communicate more efficiently with residents for civic events and crime prevention purposes. Please consider inviting your neighbors to participate in Nextdoor Edgewater and contacting our Neighborhood Watch Coordinator Lorenzo – volunteers@edgewaterpd.com to get more information on making your neighborhood safer.

Stolen Vehicles

15 Edgewater residents have had their vehicle stolen in 2017 down from 21 at this time last year. Honda Accords and Civics continue to account for almost half of the vehicle thefts metro wide, and we’ve recently had a surge in thefts of Honda CRV’s and Cadillac Escalades metro wide.

DUI’s

The Edgewater Police Department was selected for the 2nd year in a row as the top DUI Team in Colorado and will be recognized in May by MADD (Mothers against Drunk Driving.

Edgewater Officers made four DUI arrests this past week.

Traffic Issues

Edgewater Officers performed about 64 traffic stops for traffic enforcement during this reporting period. Drivers were contacted for hit & run, speeding, careless driving, red light violations, turn violations, failing to signal, reckless driving, following too closely, parking violations, abandoned vehicles, weaving, expired plates, registration violations, suspensions, denials and revocations, and multiple traffic accidents. Edgewater Officers have conducted 1,152 traffic stops to date.

The radar trailer was in the shop this week due to maintenance.

If you are interested in having the radar trailer put in your neighborhood, please contact the Police Volunteer Line – Volunteers@Edgewaterpd.com

Calls for Service

Edgewater Officers additionally responded to calls involving assaults, violation of protection orders, medical assists, trespassing, alarms, civil assists, noise complaints, criminal mischief, harassment, suspicious persons, disturbances, welfare checks, animals at large, neighbor disputes, barking dogs, welfare checks, juvenile problems, thefts, and unwanted persons, intoxicated persons, found property, domestic violence, assault, criminal mischiefs, and multiple warrant arrests. Edgewater Officers self-initiated and responded to about 161 various calls this reporting period including 3 Alarm Calls, 3 Welfare Checks and 11 Emergency 911 Calls. Year to date Edgewater Officers have responded to 49 alarm calls, 60 welfare checks and 102 Emergency 911 Calls – thank you neighbors for notifying our dispatch center at 303-271-0211 for the many calls and for our Edgewater Officers for their fine work.

Thank You Notes from Neighbors – Kudo’s

A citizen commendation will be presented to Edgewater Neighbor Michael Rosado at the Council Meeting on May 4th for his bravery, compassion and care while assisting Officer Palmer who was alone at 2:35 AM fighting with a violent DUI offender.

Last week I was having back spasm when I was contacted by Officer Slaven. I would like to thank him for his assistance. Your small department is lucky to have such a good and professional officer!

Congratulations to Officer Brink and his 2017 National Champion Rolling Denver Nuggets. Officer Brink coached a wheelchair basketball team to the National Championship in Louisville, Kentucky on April 1, 2017.

I’d like to say thank you to Corporal Geerdes and Officer Young for coming to our apartment on a domestic issue regarding our neighbors. Our neighbors are always cursing loudly and fighting which causes their kids to cry so we called the police. So, I’d like Corporal Geerdes and Officer Young to know I am very thankful to both of them for coming out the two times so that the rest of us, especially our kids could be at ease and feel safe in our buildings.

I would like to thank Officer Slaven for his help with my neighbor when she was screaming at me and calling me filthy names, threatening to sue me, etc. As soon as Officer Slaven showed up she stopped yelling and he handled the situation so well! Officer Slaven is a great addition to the Edgewater Police Department!

I would like to take this time to thank Officer Robenalt for helping take care of a situation where the tenants who live below me kept harassing my family and me. We would walk into our apartment and the neighbors would pound on their ceiling, their walls, scream profanity which scared my two young sons. Their constant cursing at us when our children were there was really taking a big toll on us, especially as parents. We called the police and Officer Robenalt came by to talk to us. Officer Robenalt really listened to what I told him was going on as this is constant and he went and talked with the two neighbors downstairs and in a few days of the last incident, is seems to be a lot better. Officer Robenalt is a true professional with a very nice side to him. Thank you.

Thank you to our outstanding police volunteers, Frank Kyper, Lorenzo Rendon, Dave Suter, and Joel Newton for the countless hours they are contributing to making our community and city a safer place to live, work and play! Chief Mackey

Neighbor’s notes and “Kudo’s” are placed in the lobby of the police station and placed in the respective officer’s personnel files – thanks for sharing!