Broken Brake Lights Lead to Arrest of Man With Active Warrant

A few weeks ago, the annual City of Lakeville Advisory Appreciation Event was held at the Lakeville Arts Center. This event gives us the opportunity to thank all the citizens who donate their time and talents in various committees and groups to help the City serve our community better. One of the most positive aspects of serving this community in public safety is to see how willing so many residents and citizens are to donate their time and talents to public and non-profit organizations to make Lakeville such a great place to live and work.

The Advisory Appreciation Event also gives those of us in the Police Department a very special group of 22 citizen volunteers who make up our Lakeville Police Reserve Unit as volunteer Reserve Officers. In the last year, our LPD Police Reserve Officers donated over 4,000 hours of their time in service to our community. At every major community event throughout the year, you will see our Reserve Officers, assisting our officers in directing traffic, assisting with crowd control and generally assisting where ever they are needed.

These dedicated citizens, who serve as LPD Police Reserve Officers, embody the true spirit of volunteerism as they receive no compensation for their service. These men and women come from all walks of life ranging from college students to retired persons; bound by a desire to serve in public safety and make our community a better place. We could not accomplish our mission as effectively and efficiently as a police department without their assistance, and we deeply appreciate their contributions.

Each year, LPD Police Reserve Liaison Officer Kevin O’Neill and Sgt. Tim Knutson select one Reserve Officer who has distinguished themselves in the past year with the “Reserve Officer of the Year” Award. This year, I was honored at the Advisory Appreciation Event to present the 2011 Reserve Officer of the Year award to LPD Reserve Unit Captain Jim Beckman. Jim not only donated 340 hours of his time in 2011 to the LPD Reserve, but also spent countless hours scheduling Reserve Officers for numerous details and assignments throughout the year.

Weekly LPD Snapshot

Sampling of LPD activity for the week of March 21 to March 28, 2012
Traffic crashes 7, Alarms 17, Animal Calls 42, Medical Emergency Calls 26, Thefts 14, Traffic Stops 261

Law Enforcement Memorial Association

This past week, I had the opportunity to attend the annual Law Enforcement Memorial Association dinner in North St. Paul. The Law Enforcement Memorial Association (LEMA) is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to assisting the families and home agencies of those law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. During the evening, the members of the LEMA Honor Guard were recognized and honored for their work. Lakeville Officer Chad Loeffler, who has been a member since 2001, was honored at this event. We are proud of Officer Loeffler’s work with the LEMA Honor Guard, contributing to the important work that this organization does in helping the families and agencies whose officers make the ultimate sacrifice.

Equipment Violation Stop Leads to Arrest

If you had an active warrant for your arrest and no driver’s license, you would think that you avoid attracting the attention of the police driving a vehicle that has no brake lights. That is exactly what happened last week when Officer Bob Doerfler was on patrol and stopped a vehicle for an equipment violation involving no taillights. Officer Doerfler identified the driver of the vehicle and found that the driver had no valid driver’s license as his driving privileges were revoked. Officer Doerfler also learned that there was an active arrest warrant for the driver. Officer Doerfler arrested the driver on the warrant and multiple drivers’ license and equipment violations. The subject was placed in Dakota County Jail pending formal charges.

Dumb Criminal of the Week

Officers Greg Jensen and Adam MacDonald responded to a suspicion report of a possible theft of scrap metal occurring behind a local business. Scrap metal is often a target of theft, since it can be turned in for cash to metal dealers. The suspect vehicle had left the scene before the officers’ arrival, but an alert witness had obtained the license plate number off the suspect vehicle. The officers ran the tag number on the vehicle and responded to the residence of the registered owner of the vehicle. The owner consented to have the officers look in the vehicle. The officers did not locate stolen scrap metal, but they did locate a license plate that had been stolen from the location. The officers are forwarding the case for charges on the stolen license plate.