Shhh...  They're taking the test as I'm writing this.

The IFPD is Civil Service, meaning there are rules administered by a committee appointed by the Mayor to oversee hiring, promotions, and discipline.

The Commission is scoring the candidates based on the following:

Once I get the three names, I’ll do a department-wide 360 using Survey Monkey and gather information from outside sources such as judges, the prosecuting attorney, and other organizations we work with.  I’ll also examine their personnel file and work history.

Royce has demonstrated solid leadership and an incredible passion for police work.  He bleeds blue.  That’s one of the reasons I selected him as captain.  Here’s a video of the commissioning.

Royce and his grandson Gage

Royce started his police career January 11, 1982. I know that because he started one week after me and we went to the police academy together. During our morning runs at the academy, he usually came in ahead of me, but I’d like to point out that I did beat him once, though I think he was sick (of running?).

Royce is an FBI National Academy graduate and has received the Medal of Valor.  He is currently the SWAT Commander.




Is Royce really that tall or are Kerry & Irene just short?

By Joelyn Hansen


What would you do if a teenager approached you asking you to purchase beer for them? What would you do if you’re the store clerk and someone under the age of 21 came into the store trying to purchase a bottle of alcohol?
Hopefully, you’d refuse. But, surprisingly, not everyone refuses to sell to or purchase alcohol for minors.

A couple of weeks ago, Idaho Falls Police worked with the Idaho State Police Alcohol Beverage Control in a sting operation as they sent teenagers into businesses to purchase alcohol.

Five times these teens were sold alcohol. That’s five too many.

Thanks to a Department of Juvenile Corrections grant, more people will be held accountable for selling alcohol to minors as the IFPD will conduct random compliance checks throughout the year.

By Joelyn Hansen


Do you ever have the knack of noticing that one tiny detail nobody else notices or even pays attention to?

That’s usually how it is with me and graffiti. It’s the one thing I have no problem noticing. I didn’t used to pay that much attention to graffiti.

But, now that I work at the police department and am tasked with cleaning it up as part of my job, I notice it a lot more. Now that the summer season is here, it will be on my mind a lot more.

The City of Idaho Falls is fortunate compared to other Idaho cities. City officials a few years ago recognized the problems that come with graffiti and enacted an ordinance requiring it to be cleaned up as soon as possible – whether by the property owner or IFPD volunteers.

It certainly makes a difference within our community despite that sometimes it can be difficult to get it cleaned up in a timely fashion or resources can be limited.

Yet, the real attribute that comes from this city ordinance really comes from how it enables residents to take ownership in Idaho Falls. Over the years, Idaho Falls has had many volunteers throughout the community come forward and participate in a clean-up project.

Just yesterday, I had a call from the Bonneville Youth Development Council looking for a graffiti clean-up project. Those kids did a great job and certainly made a positive mark on their community. Just like our other volunteers they really made this a great place to live with just some paint and a brush.

Aside from the volunteers, other community members had done their part by donating supplies and reporting graffiti to the police department. All are important roles in combating the graffiti problem.

I encourage everyone to get involved with the efforts to stop and clean-up graffiti.

By Joelyn Hansen


If you’ve had to try and find a parking space in downtown Idaho Falls you’ll be happy to know that the city created new parking spaces on Constitution Avenue to help alleviate the problem.

With this new creation of parking there are some important things to know:

• Middle parking on Constitution Avenue from Yellowstone to Park Avenue is a two-hour limit.

• Middle parking on Constitution Avenue from Park Avenue to Capital Avenue is all-day parking.

• There is no longer diagonal parking – it’s parallel parking.

The changes to Constitution aren’t going to eliminate the entirety of the downtown parking, but we hope that it at least eases some of the problem. We hope that residents are patient too as they adapt to the changes!

Also, get ready for construction on Memorial Drive. It is set to start on July 5th!