[You can see the hole, right?] Okay, so a few days ago, a woman drove past two ‘Road Closed’ barricades near Northgate Mile and Whittier Street in Idaho Falls at 1:30 in the morning.  She proceeded through a construction zone, over piles of dirt where the entire road had been torn up and was texting on her cell phone when she drove her vehicle into a large hole in front of 450 Whittier Street.She

[Freedom of the Press Belongs to Those Who Own One]  Saturday’s Post Register article clearly crossed the line between news and opinion.  I want to give you my perspective, not on the how, but on the why. First, I have believed Cory and Roger to be men of conscience but still subject to their own biases.  Unfortunately, a person’s bias (me included) is rarely self-evident. 

When we civilianized our property & evidence room position, we had no idea we’d get 214 applicants.  Shara comes to us with 6 ½ years of experience from the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office Records Division.  Since we work so closely with the Sheriff’s Office and are on the same computer system, this turned out to be a big advantage.After working hours, Shara has managed to go camping

Memorial & B Street.  Okay, so I was turning left onto "B" Street from Memorial a few weeks ago and found a driver on my side facing the opposite direction preparing to do a U Turn.  No problem with a U Turn, but the driver was on my side of the intersection.  When I motioned that she needed to be on the other side, she shook her head, pointed her finger and mouthed that I was

The Idaho Falls Citizen’s Watch Group – the men and women that drive in the cars with the yellow lights and wear the white uniform – are a great asset to the operation of the Idaho Falls Police Department. Started in 2001, the group officially organized itself after alumni from the Idaho Falls Police Citizen’s Academy asked what they could do to assist the IFPD. Ten years later, the group is a

In spite of a few high-profile incidents, violent crime in Idaho Falls continues to fall after peaking in 2007-2008.  In fact, as violent crime continues to drop nation-wide for cities our size (down 5.3% from last year), Idaho Falls violent crime is dropping even faster (down 10.3% from last year).So how do we stack up against other cities of our size across the nation?  Pretty

When we civilianized our CSI position, we conducted a national search.  There were several solid candidates with finalist from Stockton Calif. and Scotland, but the best match for us turned out to be a local, Krissy Gittins.  Krissy did CSI work for Madison County and has an Associates degree in Criminal Justice.  She has four very blonde children and a father who is a retired

Meet the Police Oversight Committee - aka City Council.  The public entrusts the police with incredible power.  Who else is legally authorized to use force, imprison, or even take life if necessary?  Understandably, society scrutinizes and holds police accountable like no others. In Idaho Falls, we are fortunate to have a high level of trust between police and the citizens

 Drugs Cash and Guns - they always seem to go together. Since Bonneville County Sheriff Paul Wilde and I made a blood oath to cooperate 3+ years ago, we’ve joined forces on a number of ventures.  Our most recent collaboration combines our drug enforcement efforts.  Our narcotics officers already shared office space and resources, but we recently signed an agreement putting undercover

(I asked Joelyn to write this post - sroos) You can spend months planning an event with no idea whether or not something will come together. At the time you execute it you pray such that it does. Thankfully plans for Wednesday night’s 11th annual Community Night Out – with a few hiccups – worked out exactly as planned and overall I deem it a success! That’s based on my own eyewitness

The Idaho Falls City Council is in the process of considering tighter controls on door-to-door sales.  Early this summer, we investigated four cases involving door-to-door sales.  One salesman was arrested for burglary and theft and another was arrested for rape.  Two other salesmen are being investigated for sexual assaults.  All incidents but one took place while the men were

 I took this photo from the top of Scotchman Peak overlooking Lake Pend Oreille.  It will be rare that I make a non-police related post, but you’ve got to see the video below (you can also see it on YouTube).  Friday, Rebecca and I climbed Scotchman Peak near Sandpoint.  We hit the trailhead early.  4 ½ miles and 4,000 vertical feet later, we arrived at the top and were amazed

Are you attending the Chukars baseball game on Tuesday? If you are, that's great news! If you aren't, you should consider it as the Idaho Falls Police Department, along with D.A.R.E. and the Fraternal Order of Police, are the night's sponsors. As sponsors, we're proud to announce that Tuesday's game will be alcohol free -- making it a perfect night for a family outing to the ball park! If

The city council decided not to adopt a texting ordinance for now.  The two main deciding factors were the difficulty of enforcement and duplicating laws - see prior post.  Even though they were deeply concerned about the insanity of texting while driving, they didn't want to simply make a political statement or create the illusion that they were doing something. They also listened

By the way, this photo isn't Kris Idaho Falls resident Kris Frasure received good news recently when we caught the culprits that broke his large double pane window at his house two weeks ago.  It’s no surprise police made an arrest. We're good at that.  The real surprise for Kris was that we solved a crime he reported online. “I wasn’t exactly sure what (the online reporting sytem)