By Bonnie Culverhouse
Six weeks in to his time as Minden Police Chief, Jared McIver has implemented programs that are making his officers – primarily his patrol officers – more visible to the public.
One way was to divide the city into three areas for the officers to patrol rather than city-wide coverage or even the five council districts..
“Supervisors assign each officer to area one, two or three,” said McIver. “They patrol that area unless they have to back up somebody … but for the most part, they stay in that area.”
McIver said the idea is to be seen while being a deterrent to speeders and other traffic violators.
However, staying in a specific area has another advantage.
“When I was walking neighborhoods and campaigning for office, I would ask residents if they know any officers by name,” said the chief. “Most of them could name maybe two officers on our force. With specific neighborhoods, officers have more chances to interact with the people who live there.”
At this point, there are four to five officers per shift. Ideally, six would be considered a full shift.
Last week, two new officers were hired, bringing the total to 28 – about 10 officers short of a full roster.
“We’ve had some applications come in, and we are vetting them,” McIver said. “It’s a process.”
Long range, McIver would like to see a vehicle with a computer for every officer.
“I’m a proponent of take-home vehicles. I think they deter crime in neighborhoods,” he said. “And having a computer for each officer will save time. While they are idle, watching for speeders, it would be possible to write reports on their laptops, and at the end of the day, they don’t have to come back to the office and spend time writing them up.”
Recently, MPD acquired 7 patrol vehicles, bringing the total fleet to 12.
“Our cars were being driven 24-7,” he said. “This helps tremendously.”
McIver said the newly-acquired vehicles – 2 Tahoes and 5 Crown Victorias – were made possible by sheriff’s departments in neighboring parishes.
“We were able to use $20,000 from our STEP (Safety Traffic Enforcement Program) funds to purchase these vehicles,” he said. “And even though they are used, they have been checked out by a mechanic, and we feel they are very sound.”
The vehicles are white and came fully rigged, with the exception of radios.
Another implementation is education, said the chief.
“Sgt. Jeremy Sitter just returned from training to train,” he said. “He is a Field Training Officer (FTO), and he is able to take new officers and teach them what they need to know in order to do their jobs.”
Next up is Lt. Joel Kendrick, who is scheduled to attend training that will allow him to assess a suspect’s behavior and determine drug consumption.
The chief’s long-range hope there is to start having in-service trainings, where his officers can instruct others in different areas.
“Education and training are expensive,” said McIver. “In-house, in-service training will save money.”
Until then, he said he has strong support from Mayor Nick Cox and the new City Council when it comes to officer training.
“They don’t make me come to them if I need something,” he said. “They come to me and ask what they can do to help. It makes for a great work environment. Our officers are much happier – morale is a lot higher, but we have so much more to do.”