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Bellevue PD K9 Unit 2012 CalendarM

The K9 Unit is stretching is muscles and hoping to grow its bank account as well with its new 2012 calendar. The K9 officers and their Police Service Dogs are each featured in the calendar on sale now at the Bellevue Police Department or from any K9 officer, or at Bellevue Animal Hospital, Karrays Cafe, MB Hair Design or Auto Body Authority. Calendars are $10 and can also be ordered through the mail. Fill out and follow the instructions on this form to receive yours.

K9 Unit Coordinator Officer Jim Bartley said the Unit is constantly fundraising. With 4 dog teams, there's always at least one dog that is nearing retirement and requiring replacement. Officer Heller's dog Zeke is the most recent to retire. He was just replaced with Jerry, who is currently in training. Officer Bartley explained, "most dogs don't go beyond 6-7 years of service so fundraising has become a necessary evil." The calendars will be for sale while supplies last.

Photo: PSD Harko, "Mr. January"

Office Filippi is Officer of the Quarter

Officer Filippi has been named Bellevue Police Department's "Officer of the Quarter" (OTQ) for the third quarter of 2011. 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 Filippi was named OTQ because of his outstanding performance in a home invasion in progress.

In its memo to the Chief, the Excellence in Law Enforcement Committee described a case in which Filippi diligently pieced together several pieces of evidence to identify and arrest the main suspects in a home invasion. Click here to read more about how Filippi's work took at least two suspects off Bellevue streets.

Officer Roskey received an honorable mention 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.

Bellevue Officers Receive Pat Kelly Award

Bellevue Police Officers Larson and Banks were honored for their work as School Resource Officers with the Pat Kelly Award. The award was presented at the annual Mayor’s Drug Commission Breakfast on October 28th, and honors individuals whose efforts promote juvenile drug and alcohol prevention. The award was named after Pat Kelly who served as the Sarpy County Attorney for 15 years and during his tenure established the first alcohol and juvenile diversion programs.

This prestigious award has been given out since 1990 and Officers Banks and Larson join a distinguished list of past recipients. Mayor Rita Sanders extended her congratulations and thanked them for their continued dedication to the youth of the City of Bellevue.

Photo: Officers Banks and Larson

Two Bellevue Officers Honored by Nebraska Police Officers' Association

BPD's K9 Officer Franks has been named Officer of the Year by the Police Officers Association of Nebraska. According to Captain Herb Evers, Franks was selected for his dedication to duty and the outstanding use of his K9 partner "Spike". Officer Franks and Spike were credited with several officer protection incidents and finds of suspects attempting to elude police. One such incident was a call of a large disturbance at a club. Officer Franks and Spike were called to assist in officer protection and crowd control. They assited by keeping the unruly crowd away from other officers while they made several arrests.

In another case, Officer Franks and his partner assisted Omaha Police in the tracking and apprehension of a fugitive that had led police on a vehicle pursuit and foot chase. Evers said Franks received the award because of his performance over the entire year but the Omaha case stands out as major achievement, "The way they work together, the training that Franks has done with Spike, made it a fairly exceptional find", stated Evers. Franks was selected from among nominations across the state of Nebraska.

Additionally, BPD's Officer Bees was awarded the Herb Spears Child Saving Award by the Nebraska Attorney General. Bees had investigated the sexual abuse of a child that had been ongoing for two years. Hard work and several weeks of interviews/interrogation led to the arrest of the suspect and the placement of the child in a lifesaving environment.

Detective Howell Is Officer of the Quarter

Detective Howell has been named Bellevue Police Department's "Officer of the Quarter" (OTQ) for the second quarter of 2011. 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.

Detective Howell was named OTQ because of his exemplary investigations and diligence in a case resulting in the arrest of a 51-year-old child predator in Bellevue.

Detective Roy Howell is the computer forensic examiner for the department and has been working with the FBI Cyber-Crimes Task Force for the past year. In its memo to the Chief, the Excellence in Law Enforcement Committee described a case in which Howell recovered fourteen, one-terabyte, hard drives; along with numerous videos of suspected child pornography. The hard drives were estimated to contain over 90,000 child pornography videos and pictures. Click here to read more about how Howell's work took this predator off the streets and put him in jail for possibly the rest of his life.

Officer Cvitanov received an honorable mention 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.

BPD Promotes Sergeant

The Bellevue Police announce the promotion of Chad Reed to the rank of Sergeant. Reed joined the BPD in September of 2,000. He has served on the Crash Team, the Motorcycle Unit and, for the last five years, as a Community Policing Officer. Reed's promotion was effective July 17th.

Department Command has full confidence in Reed's performance. Captain Herb Evers said, "we know he will do a professional job as Sergeant working in the Uniform Patrol Bureau. Our confidence is based on his experience and the professional, yet compassionate, service he has provided the citizens of Bellevue in his many past assignments."

Reed said he is looking forward to his new responsibilities, his first priority he said is coverage of calls for service. "The chiefs big thing is that he does not want public to wait. My focus is to make sure officers get calls in a timely manner." Sergeants also work service calls along with the officers.

Reed's first assignment will be North Precinct Supervisor on the "C" team which is a night shift.

Photo: Sergeant Chad Reed

K9 Unit Receives Giant Boost from Alan and Marcia Baer Foundation

BPD's K9 Unit has received a generous gift of $10,000 from the Alan and Marcia Baer Foundation. K9 Coordinator Jim Bartley said the donation is a tremendous boost to the K9 program, which has to raise its own funds for the dogs and most of its training. "This donation will ease the stress of the fund raising that we do. It's great that we have such a generous community, but this really speeds up the timeline for buying the next dog. We now know we are ready and capable going out to the vendor and buying the next dog," Bartley said.

K9 Officer Heller's Police Service Dog Zeke is set to retire this year. Bartley said a replacement will be purchased late fall of this year.

Photo: Steve Strack, representing the Alan and Marcia Baer Foundation, presenting the check to Chief John Stacey

City Braces for Flood Waters

The Bellevue Police Department, working together with other city departments, is helping residents prepare for flood waters due to rise in the city some time during the week of June 13th.

Captain Mark Elbert, and many other police staff, are helping to coordinate the police response to the impending floods. Elbert said "It seems pretty serious and we're taking it seriously. There appears to be an impending dangerous situation that we're monitoring closely. We especially want to advise that the people who live in the Green Acres and Paradise Lakes neighborhoods need to take measures to protect themselves and their property."

The Bellevue Police and City of Bellevue will continue to update this dangerous situation by way of the media. You may also obtain additional information from the following:

- Bellevue Police on Twitter, follow hashtag "#2011morivflood"

- Bellevue Police on Facebook

- City of Bellevue Website

- Nebraska Emergency Management

In the event of a mass evacuation the Police Department will not permit re-entry into the flooded area until it is deemed safe.

Chief Stacey Honored by Tobacco Free Sarpy

Bellevue's Chief Stacey received the "Law Enforcement Officer of the Year" award from Tobacco Free Sarpy. Stacey was among four Bellevue residents honored recently for their roles in keeping tobacco products away from Bellevue youth.

Joan Friedman is the Coordinator of the Tobacco Free Program. She said Chief Stacey's support has been key to the program's success and that the selection committee was struck by Stacey's passion to keep youth in the city safe. "It just struck us how passionate he is for his community, and how important it is for him to keep them out of trouble out of harms way," she said. Friedman also spoke to Stacey's support for a tobacco tax in the Nebraska Legislature, "There is no measurement of how valuable that was for those of us who are working to help senators try to understand."

For his part, Stacey said he gives credit to his officers, he added "I'm at the end of the food chain. I support my officers and the important work of Tobacco Free Sarpy. But the real credit goes to the officers who run the programs."

Other recipients of the award were Margaret Stamp, Partner of the Year for implementing a Smoke Free Lease at Highland Meadows Apartments; Sandy McCarthy, Volunteer of the Year, for using her skills and knowledge as a nurse to engage the community about risks of tobacco use; and Werner Park, Business of the Year for being smoke free.

Photo: Margaret Stamp, Sandy McCarthy, Alan Stein, Chief John Stacey

Officer Lopez Is Officer of the Quarter

Officer Lopez has been named Bellevue Police Department's "Officer of the Quarter" for the first quarter of 2011. 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 Lopez was named OTQ because of his exemplary investigations and perseverance in cases resulting from his position as a School Resource Officer.

In its memo to the Chief, the Excellence in Law Enforcement Committee referred to at least three situations at Bryan High, where Lopez performed admirably. The cases included sexual solicitation of a minor on Craig's List, counterfit bills and a set fire. Full details about Lopez' work in his selection as the OTQ are available here.

Detectives David Chizek, Detective Craig Wiech, and Officer Cvitanov 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.

BPD Offers Teens an Opportunity to Learn about Law Enforcement

Patterned after the popular Citizen's Police Academy, the Bellevue Police Department is offering youth, ages 15-18 an opportunity to participate its Teen Academy, a hands-on, realistic and in-depth week of exposure to the law enforcement profession.

The Teen Academy is aimed at bringing together local youth who may be interested in a career in Law Enforcement. BPD's Community Policing Coordinator Jayme Krueger said the Teen Academy is an extension of the annual Citizen's Police Academy, where adults in the community get a behind the scenes look into the police department and the different units within the department. "Every year we have some young adults in the community still in high school asking about the academy, but it may not work with their busy school schedule. It is great to see so many local kids interested in getting involved in their community and learn more about a possible career in Law Enforcement", Krueger said.

To apply, download the application and turn it in by May 13th. Participants must be 15-18 years old, have a GPA of 2.0 or higher and be of good moral character. The academy runs June 13 to 16.

Photo: Teen Academy Flyer, Click to enlarge.

BPD Supports Fundraiser for Nebraksa Trooper

The Future Leaders of Our Community (FLOC) mentoring program will host a fundraiser basketball game between the Nebraska Cornhusker Football players and the Bellevue Public Schools staff. The event is to raise money for the family of Nebraska State Trooper Parnell Matthews, who passed away on March 3rd. All proceeds will be donated to the Matthews family to help with medical and other expenses. Trooper Matthews' son, who attends an area high school, will be participating in the basketball game.

BPD Officer Banks has been instrumental in organizing the yearly event. He said, "Trooper Matthews was a man who was dedicated to his family and his community. It is sad to have lost a brother in our law enforcement community. Please show your support for Trooper Matthews and his family by attending this event."

The Husker football players who will participate in the event are, Joe Broekemeier, Latravis Washington, Mike McNeill, DJ Jones, Ricky Henry, Alex Henery, Tyrone Fahie, and Dreu Young.

The event will be held at Bellevue West High School, Wed March 30th, at 7:00 P.M. Doors will open at approximately 6:15 P.M. The cost of admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students. Supportors can bring 2 canned goods to receive $1 off admission. The canned goods will be donated to the Bellevue food pantry.

Photo: Trooper Parnell Matthews

BPD Offers Social Media Safety Training

The Bellevue Police Department is offering free training on basic social media use and safety in separate sessions for parents and teens. Community Policing Coordinator Jayme Krueger will lead the training sessions covering page setup, privacy settings and online safety.

The parent sessions will emphasize the importance of knowing what your kids are doing online and will include a discussion on how to talk with teens about online safety. The teen sessions will emphasize making good decisions online. Krueger said kids don't understand how making a bad choice online today can affect their future, "making a stupid choice and putting something online could affect their ability to get into college, or the military or get the job they want." Krueger explained that these days it doesn't take a lot to affect your future when it comes to online activity, and added "when we were kids we had to work at it. Today one lapse in judgement and it could haunt them forever."

The adult session is Thursday, March 31st and the teen session is on Thursday, April 7th. Both will be at the Fire Training Facility at 3100 Cornhusker Road. Participants may bring their own laptop (optional), Internet access will be provided. To sign up, email Jayme at jayme.krueger[at]bellevue.net or call her at 402-293-3086.

BPD Makes Arrest in Williams Homicide

On Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 The Bellevue Police Department investigated the homicide of 18 year old Kyle Williams in his home at on South 25th Avenue. It was determined that Mr. Williams had died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

The subsequent investigation has lead to the arrest of 17 year old Jonathan Levi Armendariz, of Omaha.

Mr. Armendariz was taken into custody by members of the Metro Area Fugitive Task Force at a home on North 42nd St. in Omaha at approximately 1500 hours on March 11th, for outstanding warrants.

Bellevue Police Detectives later arrested Mr. Armendariz for 1st Degree Murder, Use of a Weapon to Commit a Felony and Robbery and turned him over the Sarpy County Juvenile Probation Office for detention.

Although an arrest has been made detectives are continuing the investigation.

Photo: Jonthan Levi Armendariz

Bellevue Police Investigate Homicide

On Thursday evening, March 3rd, 2011, at 7:54pm, Bellevue Police Officers were dispatched to 9701 S. 25th Avenue for a rescue call. The homeowner at that address returned home and found his grandson injured and unresponsive. Bellevue Officers and members of the Bellevue Fire Department checked on the victim and confirmed that he had died from his injuries. Officers remained at the home throughout the night investigating the circumstances of the victim's death.

The victim is identified as Kyle Williams, 18 years of age. Mr. Williams had been residing at this residence with his grandfather and mother for the past several years.

The Bellevue Police Department is investigating Kyle's death as a homicide. The Department was assisted by Sarpy County Sheriff's Department investigators and the Omaha Police Department Crime Lab Unit.

Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to call the Bellevue Police Department at (402)-293-3100 and ask to speak with a detective. Anonymous tips may be called in to Sarpy County Crimestoppers at (402)-592-STOP (7867).

Further information will be released as facts are known.

Bellevue Police Host Police Leadership Training

Bellevue Police were recently host to 8 other law enforcement agencies providing leadership training through the Leadership in Police Oganizations (LPO) Program. LPO is a set of training developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

The LPO Program is a three week program spread over two months and emphasizes modern behavioral science and leadership theories to enhance human motivation, satisfaction and performance.

Nearly all of Bellevue Command Officers attended the training. Lt Tom Dargy said the key take-away for him was learning how to tailor leadership styles to an individual employee’s goals. He added, "they taught us how to go through their individual long term goals as opposed to maybe identifying 3 or 4 really strong performers and then tailoring leadership to everyone of these traits."

La Vista Chief Bob Lausten found theories around storming, forming and norming process as they relate to creating cohesive groups to be beneficial. He added that instrctors from the Pennsylvania State Police gave them a different perspective on similar issues, "we have common problems throughout the nation, it's interesting to see hear coast view point on some things such as vehicle pursuits, problem employees and union issues."

Officer Franks Named 2010
Bellevue Police Officer of the Year

The Bellevue Police Department is extremely proud to announce its Officer of the Year for 2010. Officer Franks has earned this honor because of his outstanding performance during the course of the year. The selection of the Officer of the Year was made by the Excellence in Law Enforcement Committee. The announcement of the Officer of the Year was made by Chief John Stacey at BPD's annual Police banquet on February 5th, 2011.

Officer Franks, together with Police Service Dog (PSD) Spike, was especially effective in several cases throughout the year. In the first quarter Franks and PSD Spike dispersed a crowd at an after-hours party which had turned hostiled toward officers. Also in the first quarter, Officer Franks and Spike assisted Omaha Police to apprehend an armed robber.

During a ten-day span in April of the year, Franks used his dog with very positive results. He located drugs on eighteen different vehicle stops, resulting in finds of marijuana, narcotic pills, methamphetamine, cocaine, scales, and drug paraphernalia. In addition, he also used his dog to protect officers eight times, tracked suspects, recovered evidence and conducted a demonstration at a school.

For the year he had over 200 uses of his K9. The next closest dog on the Department had 125. He has also been credited with researching and developing a new K9 software program which compiles data from K9 "use reports" into a usable format.

This website includes more information about Officers of the Year going back to 1988 as well as many other awards and accomplishments. View the Awards pages within About Us for complete descriptions of awards and the officers who earned them.

Photo: Officer Franks with PSD Spike, 2010 Officer and K9 of the Year

BPD Promotes Two

The Bellevue Police Department announces the promotions of two veteran officers. Sgt Steve Hatfield has been promoted to Lieutenant and Officer John McDaniel was promoted to Sergeant.

Lt Hatfield will continue to report to Captain Mark Elbert and will be in charge of training department-wide. Previously, as Sergeant, he handled fire-arms training. Captain Elbert said Hatfield is perfectly-suited to his new position. "It's just right up his alley. This is something that he should excel with his specific training. He's a very type A, very organized, he will do very, very well in that." Hatfield joined the Department in November of 1994 and was promoted to Sergeant in June of 2003.

Sgt McDaniel will work road patrol and will report to Captain Herb Evers. Captain Evers called McDaniel and extremely hard worker and added, "he has had great experience in supervision. He will provide the leadership at the supervisory level that we expect. I am confident he will be a great asset to the BPD team." McDaniel joined the department as an Officer in November of 1996.

Photo: Lieutenant Steve Hatfield and Sergeant John McDaniel

BPD adds Two Captains to Command Team

The Bellevue Police Department is pleased to announce the promotions of Lieutenants Mark Elbert and Dave Stukenholtz to the rank of Captain. Chief John Stacey said the promotions are long overdue as entry level and supervisory level testing and processing have taken precedence. Stacey added that both men have been performing the work of a Captain and were promoted "in place", he added, "however, they, along with the rest of the command group agreed that the front lines of the police department took priority and that is the direction the department took. Now that the appointments have been made, the chain of command will be cleaner and more functional as there will no longer be a lieutenant reporting to a lieutenant."

Captain Stukenholtz has been with the BPD since 1992 and has commanded the Criminal Investigations Bureau since 2001. Captain Elbert joined the PD in in 1996. He commands the Professional Standards Bureau. Both men will retain their current assignments. Stacey said the Captain's evaluation, testing and review process took several months and the new captains are very deserving of their promotions. He said, "I would like to personally congratulate both of these men as their responsibilities have taken on a new dimension and their overall management duties reach across the entire police department. They have demonstrated over several years their capabilities to command the Bellevue Police Department and have both acted as Chief of Police in my absence."

The current Bellevue Police Command Structure now includes three captains, Captain Herb Evers has served in that position since 1997. He commands the Uniformed Patrol Bureau.

Photo: Captains Dave Stukenholtz and Mark Elbert

Officer Bees Is Officer of the Quarter

Detective Bees has been named Bellevue Police Department's "Officer of the Quarter" for the fourth 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.

Detective Bees was named OTQ because of his oustanding detective and interrogation work on two horrific child sexual assault cases.

In its memo to the Chief, the Excellence in Law Enforcement Committee referred to at least four occasions where Bees demonstrated exemplary duty. The cases included possession of stolen property and several instances of theft including auto theft. Full details about Bees's work in his selection as the OTQ are available here.

Officers Melrose 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 Bees

Village Inn Supports BPD K9 and Shop With a Cop programs

Thursday nights at the two Village Inn restaurants in Bellevue haven't quite been business as usual for the past few months. Both restaurants teamed up to alternate support for BPD's K9 Unit and Shop With a Cop programs.

Paul Welch, the manager at the Twin Creek restaurant also donated meals to the 39 families served by the Shop With a Cop program. Village Inn has been a long time supporter of the Bellevue Police Department's initiatives. Welch says he wants Village Inn Restaurants to be known for having a passion to serve. He added "A great way to demonstrate that is by giving and being involved in the community by supporting organizations and events that make the community a better place to live."

The restaurants have been donating a portion of their profits to either Shop With a Cop or the BPD K9 Unit since mid-September. So far nearly $1,300 has been raised to support the two programs. Village Inn will continue to donate to both programs from Thursday night profits through April.

Photo: Officer Bartley and Police Service Dog Harko