Mummified Hand Case Closed

No mayhem here, at least not within the past 700 years. Our investigation into a mummified hand is closed following testing by a physical anthropologist from the Utah Division of State History Antiquities Division dating it anywhere from 700 to 1,000 years old.

We started our investigation in March after the Museum of Idaho turned it over to us. Museum officials received the mummified hand from a patron a year or two ago and had forgotten about it until this past spring when they rediscovered it.

The hand was initially reported to have come from Utah and therefore will likely be offered back to the Native American Tribes of Utah.

Graffiti in Idaho Falls

Graffiti cases are down this year compared to the same period last year. It helps that volunteers clean it up quickly after it is spotted. According to the broken window theory, keeping graffiti cleaned up helps prevent more graffiti and more serious crime.

You can report graffiti by calling our volunteer coordinator, Joelyn, at 612-8655 or you can report it online at our website.

The problem many cities have (and us until 2008) is that graffiti often occurs on private property and no one other than the property owner has the right to remove it. When the property owner lives in Las Vegas and we only have a mailing address, getting permission to remove it falls apart.

Some cities will clean up the graffiti and bill the property owner. The Idaho Falls City Council wisely opted for the right to clean it up without charging the property owner, reasoning that they didn’t want to victimize the property owner twice.

By the way, there is a little ambiguity in the ordinance that has left some people with the impression that the property owner will be charged for the expense of clean-up. That is not the case.

Officer Dustin Howell Joins the Ranks

Officer Dustin Howell is the newest addition to the Idaho Falls Police Department. As an Idaho Falls native he welcomes the opportunity to serve his hometown.

Officer Dustin Howell joins the Idaho Falls Police with an outstanding reputation as a tough but fair cop, a family-man, a constant professional and a patriot.

Good reasons to why the IFPD snatched him away from the Chubbuck Police Department. Sorry, Chubbuck, but we know a good man when we see one.

“I’m just glad to be here,” Dustin said. “It’s always nerve-racking meeting new people but it’s been awesome.”

Dustin is a man of accomplishment having earned the United States Air Force Expert Marksman award during his 9 years of service and Officer Of The Year during his two and a half year stint with the Chubbuck Police Department. He’s also been educated in tactical countermeasures, counterdrug training, drug interdiction and street survival.

Aside from his career he’s a busy husband and father of three, spending some of his time coaching a traveling baseball team and attending dance classes. According to his wife, Dustin has a “goofy side” sometimes doning the “MINGA mask” for the family "Scare Wars." She claims to have heard "little girl screams" escape his lips when he was on the receiving end. We'll have to test that.

Holmes Avenue Crash Numbers

The road diet restricting Holmes Avenue to two lanes between 17th and Northgate has been in effect for one year and here are the crash statistics:

While traffic crashes have fallen city-wide compared to last year, the number and intensity of crashes on Holmes Avenue has decreased faster. Because of the tight margin, I’m not willing to call it a trend, but I like what I see.

Holmes Avenue crashes decreased 25.6% compared to a city-wide crash decrease of 20.4%. Similarly, Holmes Avenue injuries decreased 25.9% compared to a city-wide decrease of 23.4%.

Traffic Crashes Down

[The Guys Who Keep You Safe]

If you get stopped for texting or speeding in Idaho Falls, there’s a good chance it will be from one of these guys. Thanks to their excellent work, traffic crashes are down 20% from last year and traffic injuries are down 23%.

Any police officer can write a ticket. But we have six officers in our Traffic Unit that specialize in traffic related matters such as crash investigation and traffic enforcement. Did you know that there is more death, injury, and property loss from crashes than from all other crimes combined? If you saw what they saw, you might have a little more understanding when they don’t “give you a break”.

So what’s their quota? There isn’t one. In fact, I’ve been asked about ticket revenue by the finance people (and a city council member once) and I have one answer that I give everyone. The reason we write tickets is safety and I could care less about revenues. In my view, if the city really needs more money, they should ask the citizens directly.

We didn’t accomplish the traffic crash reduction alone. We work with the City Electric Division and the Public Works Division for safer design and signage. I’ve blogged about the results on Hitt Road and next week, I’ll have the preliminary numbers on Holmes. Also, Idaho Falls Community Pathways caught my attention on bike and pedestrians which led to my interest in crosswalk safety and enforcement.

The bottom line is that I’m much more interested in traffic crashes than I am ticket counts. That’s why I couldn’t be more pleased with the results we’re getting.

FYI - last year, IFPD’s 91 officers wrote 10,171 tickets. Of those, 5,717 were written by the Traffic Unit. There were 772 crashes with 361 injuries.

City Council Considers Bees

The Idaho Falls City Council is considering an ordinance change allowing bees in the city and for some reason, this comes through the police public safety committee. Not that I’m opposed to it. I kept a couple hives several years ago.

Most people who fear bees lump them together with other stinging insects such as yellow jackets, hornets, and the editorial page of the Post Register – just kidding Corey. But being stung by a honey bee is extremely rare unless you're inside the hive. I’m told that the presence of honey bees even decreases the presence of other stinging insects.

In my view, the ordinance currently drafted takes care of two key issues by forcing the bees to reach altitude before doing a flyover of the neighbor’s yard and providing water so they don’t share drinks with the kids in the pool next door.

Rebecca and I worked our hives together (we do everything together). I’ve been stung a few times, but only when wearing gloves rummaging through their hives. On the other hand, Rebecca has never been stung even though she was elbow deep in honey combs covered with bees. She claims it’s because she never wore gloves so she could feel them and thus be careful not to hurt them. I think it’s because she whispered to them in soft soothing tones. I know it works on me.

A Woman's Guide to Getting Your Male Boss to Wear Women's Shoes

Chief Steve Roos walks down the street during the DVSAC's "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" fundraiser.

IFPD Detective Pat McKenna selected a lovely pair of turquoise shoes to walk in on Saturday. He later sported a few new blisters.

IFPD Detective Rome Stiffler definitely did not chose anything subtle for his debut in the "Walk a Mile" fundraiser.

Post by Joelyn Hansen

My abilities amaze me. I’m not bragging, but it’s not every day you can manage to get Chief Roos (my boss) to wear a pair of women’s shoes for the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” fundraiser. Something others failed to do in the past!

The Chief supports the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Center, but he’s not crazy about having sore feet. So, it took strategy and the right pair of shoes in the zero hour to get him to do it.

The DVSAC’s “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” fundraiser is one of, if not the, biggest fundraisers the center hosts.

I LOVE this fundraiser. It’s a for a good cause and it’s a good time watching men hobble down the street in high heels. Did I mention that some of these shoes look like something a drag queen would wear on the Vegas Strip?

IFPD Detectives Pat McKenna and Rome Stiffler were participating and I naturally thought the Chief needed to take part too.

My “woman’s training” would need to be used to coerce him though. Everyone knows a determined woman can get a man to anything – just ask Adam about the moment he and Eve got kicked out of the garden.

While the chief was on vacation I placed the registration envelope in his box with a post-it note attached that said, “Have you ever considered doing this? It would make for a good blog….”

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the Chief loves to blog and if anything were to push him to wear ladies’ shoes it would be in the name of the blog!

The Chief started to bite the bait. But, before agreeing, he countered with, “Find me a pair of shoes that I can wear and I’ll do it.”

Done.

Two days prior I sifted through size 14 shoes and selected a few pairs – including a pair of red patent leather high heels made for an Amazon woman – for the chief to try on.

The red heels (which I knew he wouldn’t wear) laid the ground work to get him to finally choose a pair of flip flops with a jeweled heart on the strap.

Now, a few of the other men chided him about his shoe choice. But, in all fairness at least he participated and even earned a few blisters. Plus, he helped DVSAC raise more than $11,000.

Way to go Chief, Rome and Pat! On behalf of the ladies at the IFPD, you guys make us proud!

Blog Reaches Milestone

This Blog has passed the 10,000 page views milestone since it's inception two months ago. Cool! Of the current 10,127 page views all most all come from the United States (presumably Idaho, but I have no way of knowing). Four of them came from Malaysia.

The most popular post was Freedom of the Press followed by Decision to Enter. My personal favorite is Weekend Escape and yes I know, we won’t feed wild animals again.

Congratulations to Chief Larry Anderson

[Idaho POST Director William Flink, Rigby Police Chief Larry Anderson, Jefferson County Sheriff Blair Olsen]

After Bill and Blair presented Paul with his certificate they headed north to Rigby and presented Chief Larry Anderson with the Executive Certificate. If fact, Larry is the one that got Sheriff Paul Wilde in law enforcement back in the late 1970s. Chief Anderson has the respect of his fellow chiefs and currently represents our part of the state for the Idaho Chiefs of Police Association.

Larry has seen it all over the years and has learned a great deal from his experiences. As evidence that he can be taught, Larry wisely gave up team roping after a fall and broken collar bone. Yes indeed, smart man.

Congratulations Sheriff Paul Wilde

[Idaho POST Director William Flink, Bonneville County Sheriff Paul Wilde, Jefferson County Sheriff Blair Olsen]

Paul was presented with the POST Executive Certificate—the highest certificate

awarded to peace officers in Idaho. Paul has been in the business since 1977, the year I graduated from high school. He’s done it all starting as a jailer, then patrol, detectives, through the ranks to Chief Deputy in 2003. He’s been sheriff since 2008 shortly after I became chief.

In our younger years when we had little authority in our respective organizations, Paul and I joked about how things would be different when we were in charge. But in all seriousness, I have to say that the single biggest change for the better is our determination to work together.

Nice job, Paul, and here’s another photo I managed to scare up.

Visitors from France

Chief Steve Roos exchanges police patches with retired French Officer Jean Francois Aguilar during their visit to Idaho Falls on Thursday. Mr. Aguilar's wife, Claudine, and son, Anthony, joined in on the exchange too.

Post by Joelyn Hansen

There's something to say about unexpected visitors – whether they’d be friendly or not so friendly– to the IFPD that can change an ordinary work day to something you'll talk about later with friends and family.

Today, our visitors happened to be friendly as we happily greeted French visitors Jean Francois and Claudine Aguilar and their son, Anthony, at the police station. While on vacation to the United States Jean Francois, a retired French Police Officer, stopped by to exchange department patches. What a delightful surprise!

Of course, do you think I could let this visit pass with just an ordinary patch exchange? Absolutely not! Let’s not be ridiculous! I gladly pulled the chief away from his work and made him and the Aguilar family line up and have their picture taken!

I’m pretty sure this impromptu photo session and patch exchange will likely bring the IFPD some International fame. After all, you know the Aguilar family will be sharing their vacation photos and stories with people back home in France too. I'm sure their short visit to the IFPD will be at the top of that list for favorite vacation moments.

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