Flossy on the beat

Assistant City Administrator Todd Pelham explaining the Blue Springs council community survey to us

This afternoon, while Christine was out catching the bad guys in Blue Springs, I spent a few hours talking corporate communications with Communications Manager Kim Nakahodo and residents surveys with Todd Pelham.

Kim has worked for Kansas City, MO and Blue Springs in communications roles, and it was interesting to pick up on the strategies she uses to get the best value out of their communications resources. As I have often found to be the case in my time here, the fundamentals of local government are the same the world over - and the challenges of getting the message across to citizens are much the same in Missouri as they are in North Otago. Kim had some interesting ideas which I will share with Scott and Ben on my return. One thing I would LOVE to bring back is their Residents Survey tool - imagine our NRB Communitrak survey but twice or three times more useful information for the same cost. I am dead jealous.

Police Officer Carolina Yeager

Captain Bob Morton
Chief Wayne McCoy

Us and the Chief at Applebees

(Yummy Lunch)

It has been a long held dream to see action, thrills and spills on the beat, as back home in NZ citizens are not encouraged to ride alongside police officers unless they are sworn staff (or in custody!). Guess what I got to do today - yep I was a police officer for three hours. Actually I had better clarify this: I was an observer for three hours with a lovely police officer called Carolina Yeager. We saw some action, a call out for a suspicious car, and a motor vehicle accident. I loved this experience and am thankful to Carol for allowing me to accompany her and her boss Chief Wayne McCoy for supporting this. I was impressed with the swiftness of their response and the way that the fire engine, ambulance and police all attended . The police cars are well equipped, and have a completely barred in back seat - which protects the police officer from the offender while in the car. It was some time during the ride before I realised that I was sitting alongside a weapon - a gun of some sort that looked similar to a rifle. I was a little scared by this as I have never been this close to a gun. Police officers in the US are armed and are trained to kill if necessary. Instead of our Armed Offenders Squad they have a SWAT team, but they are drawn from regular staff. We were privileged to share lunch with the Chief Wayne McCoy, and his Captain Bob Morton. We discussed local crime and law enforcement issues. I was very interested to discover that they also have the DARE programme here and work in schools with education just like at home. They also have a dedicated youth officer. Interestingly family violence is still a problem even in this community - just like home. The crime rate here is relatively low - approx 32 criminal offenses per 1000 people per year. Police Officers travel alone in their patrol cars and are very well equipped - right down to a video camera that videos their interactions with offenders. Bob was kind enough to show us his unmarked Police vehicle and the equipment he carries with him. There were some heavy duty arms - a semi automatic rifle, ammunition, gas mask, protective vests, spare clothing, knee pads, portable radio, all the kind of things we see our Armed Offenders Squad carry. The Police Department is about the same size of Oamaru and yet they service a population of 58 000, they must work really hard here. Interestingly Carol said that police officers were not well regarded within the community as they are seen as the bad guys - that is not the case at home. Policemen are respected by the community, unless you are an offender!. Lunch was yummy - I had the privilege of tasting mozzarella sticks again (basically crumbed and fried mozzarella) I LOVE THEM.

This evening Sonja cooked us yet another tasty meal, brisket (A kind of beef cooked similarly to corned beef) served with Gorgonzola sauce and Jus. I have always wanted to taste Gorgonzola cheese as you can't get it at home, and I love it. I would describe it as a light creamy blue cheese. Sonja had mixed it with mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Brisket is served with potatoes and carrots just like corned beef.