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Bellevue, Nebraska A message from 
The ushering in of spring and summer brings a change to police services, most notably increases. Students are out of school, vacations, outdoor activities, sports, and the overall bringing together more groups of people in an outdoor setting. The BPD wants to ensure everyone gets to maximize their time together, without unnecessary interruptions. On the flip side, courtesy goes both ways. If you are having a party, picnic, or get together, please be respectful of your neighbors. Not all of our citizens work daytime hours Monday through Friday. This requires responsible citizens to be aware of the noise produced by these functions and the possibility of disrupting the peace and quiet of others. This is generally not much of a problem, however, there are times that mixing group of people and adding alcohol tends to solicit problems. Please try to understand, we do not want to spoil anyone's festivities, but simply asking that you exercise consideration of those who need peace and quiet. Summer is also a time of increased travel on the roadways, fatalities between motorists and motorcycle riders have increased 131% from 1998-2008, please remember to look closely for motorcycles while driving. With the increase in outdoor activities comes an increase in other crimes such as littering, criminal mischief/vandalism, graffiti, fights, and thefts. We would appreciate a call to 911 if you or anyone close to you witnesses any form of these crimes. It is much easier to correct a small problem right away rather than ignoring it to the point it becomes out of control and deteriorates your neighborhood, so please make the call. There are numerous outdoor civic events planned this summer, I would encourage you to pick out a few and participate, it is what makes Bellevue a great place to live. Check our homepage often. We update it regularly with stories about special BPD events. We are proud of the work we do and equally proud to share information about what we do with you, and we constantly strive to improve our service to the City of Bellevue. If you have any comments on how we can improve police service to the community, please email me personally at john[dot]stacey[at]bellevue[dot]net. If you have suggestions as to how our website can serve you better, please contact Lt Mark Elbert at mark[dot]elbert[at]bellevue[dot]net. Sincerely,
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Officer Ducker is promoted to Sergeant
Ducker is currently in several weeks of orientation on the day shift. He will begin supervising a night shift as Sergeant around mid-September. Captain Herb Evers is confident in Ducker's ability to excel in his new role as Sergeant, "He's got great interest he wants to do the right thing. I think he willl. I have full confidence that he'll develop into a good sergeant." The method to select a sergeant began several months prior. The intense process includes a written test, mock scenarios, an oral review board and in-basket skills assessment, all conducted by the civil service commission. The names of the top three candidates are sent to BPD command. Chief Stacey and the command officers conduct an extensive review of each officers work history. Ducker's new responsibilities officially began August 15th. He is currently training with BPD commanders and other Sergeants for several weeks before taking over on the night shift in September. Photo: Sergeant Dontrell Ducker "Dunk the pig", and support the dogs
Bellevue's Swine Dining restaurant is hosting a piggish fundraiser for the BPD K9 Unit on Saturday. The event will feature cops pigging out in a barbeque-eating contest and a dunk tank where citizens can "dunk the (BPD) pig". It's all to raise money for the K9 Unit. Officer Grubb is organizing the event and says BPD officers don't seem to be concerned about being called "pigs", at least not this time. He added "everybody I've talked to has gotten a kick out of it. It doesn't bug'em." The Party Palace has donated a Bounce house and K9 tshirts will be on sale. The event runs from 10:30-3:00 at Swine Dining at 204 E Mission Avenue. Officer Banks Is Officer of the Quarter
Officer Banks has been named Bellevue Police Department's "Officer of the Quarter" for the second quarter of 2010. Four times each year the department selects one officer who has demonstrated performance above and beyond that which is routinely expected. Officers are nominated by their supervisor or a commanding officer. Officer Banks was named OTQ because of his outstanding work mentoring kids as a School Resource Officer and because of his volunteer work as a coach and with many other area organizations. In its memo to the Chief, the Excellent in Law Enforcement Committee referred to Banks' selflessness. By taking special interest in the growth and achievement of area high school students he has become an outstanding role model. Full details about Banks' work in his selection as the OTQ are available on this website in the Awards pages. Please click "OTQ". Officers Gray and Flohrschutz received honorable mentions for the award. This website includes more information about Officers of the Quarter going back to 2000 as well as many other awards and accomplishments. Photo: Officer Banks Former Bellevue Police Lieutenant Passes The Bellevue Police Department has lost a friend. Billie Adkison died July 21st. He was 76 years old. Adkison was a BPD Lieutenant when he retired in 1994 after 31 years with the department. He returned to his hometown of Richland, MO for his retirement. Adkison was known as a no-nonsense guy when at work. He was fair but tough on anyone who messed up, according to Captain Herb Evers. When Evers was a young recruit in 1973, it was Adkison who trained him. "Billie D, as we called him was the training officer at that time. We sat in class for what seemed like forever, day after day. However, we learned a lot from Adkison. He had been around a while and knew police work. Us new guys knick-named the training the Billie D Adkison School of Police Science." Evers said Adkison was a good friend and mentor. "He was missed when he retired from the PD. We know now that he is at the right hand of God. He was a wonderful guy". New texting while driving law nets 1 on the first day It is now illegal to text while driving in the state of Nebraska. The law went into effect July 15th. In Bellevue, the first car accident responded to by BPD on that day was caused by a driver who was texting. The 16 year old driver admits to texting while driving. Captain Herb Evers said that the law will sometimes be hard to enforce because it's difficult for officers to see with certainty that a driver is using a mobile device to send or receive a text. Evers added, ?I think the guys did a good investigation. The text was still on the screen. We could have proven it even if she had not admitted it." The accident happened on Highway 370. The driver was heading west bound and looked down to delete or read a text message. She veered to the left, hit the center island running over a traffic sign and nearly collided with head-on traffic. She was charged with violation of the texting law which carries, as a first offense, a $200 fine and 3 points assessed. The texting law is a secondary offense which means a driver would have to have been stopped for a something else first. Two new laws cover alcohol consumption The Bellevue Police Department is working with city leaders on two changes in the law that will effect the rights of citizens to consume alcohol within the city. One ordinance would lift the ban on open-consumption of alcohol in state parks that went into effect 15 years ago. The City of Bellevue is looking to be consistent with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission by lifting the alcohol ban in Haworth Park. Currently, city leaders and public officials are working through an ordinance that will satisfy both sides of the issue. Suggestions are to put specific areas to allow alcohol as well as having a person responsible for those consuming. Park rules and regulations would still apply and only in designated areas that are leased for camping and boating purposes only. There will be no alcohol allowed on any roadway, playground, or common area that is not specifically included in the regulations. The second ordinance was passed and takes effect July 15th that allows bars and taverns to extend their hours to 2 a.m. This is consistent with all the cities surrounding Bellevue, including the State of Iowa. BPD Chief John Stacey said "Bellevue Police= has no definitive stand other than, for consistency purposes, it becomes less conflictive if all were the same. This is now the case". If you have any input feel free to contact us at BPD. All stories previously published on this homepage can be found in the story archive. |
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BPD
announces the promotion of Officer Dontrell Ducker to the rank of Sergeant. Ducker is
a nine-year BPD veteran. Having spent his first 2 years with BPD on road patrol, 3 years as a School
Resource Officer at Bryan High School, and the last 4 years in the Criminal Investigations Unit.
