Bomb Squad

Back in the day, when we had a bomb call, the response team came from either Mountain Home or Tooele Utah. The military phased out of the domestic bomb business (unless it’s a known military device) and Home Land Security (through the FBI) set up regional teams. The IFPD was selected for Eastern Idaho in 2007 and we were joined by the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office a few years later.

We received accreditation from the FBI and Bomb Data Center in Sept. 2009. On average we respond to about 20-30 non-military hazardous explosive calls a year. A majority of calls are in the summer.

The bomb squad is composed of two IFPD Police Officers and two Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office Deputies. All are now certified bomb techs having attended the FBI’s hazardous devices operations school in Huntsville, Alabama with its two-year waiting list. We have state-of-the-art equipment, complete with bomb suits and robot. This provides us with essentially the same tools and training as the military bomb teams in Afghanistan and Iraq less specialized military ordinance training. Accreditation requires at least 16 hours of training a month, but we do about 20.

Ever wondered what the bomb squad considers funny?

Colorado Shooting

Are we prepared for a Colorado-style mass shooting?

As a police department, we made a fundamental shift a decade or so ago on our tactical approach to mass shootings. Prior to Columbine, mass shootings were practically unheard of so most police departments didn’t train for it, but instead just used the generic approach of setting up a perimeter and negotiating. This may work in a hostage situation, but certainly not with a person bent on racking up a large body-count.

Every police officer on the department has received significant “Active Gunman” training. While we oftentimes train using school buildings (after the kids go home), the concepts apply to a variety of situations.

But can the police respond in time? - Likely not before a lot of people have been shot. If you’re lucky, there will be an off-duty cop in the crowd or a responsible citizen with a concealed weapons permit.

Running mental "scenarios" is common for off-duty officers wherever we go.

Rebecca and I arrive at a high school choir concert. She knows I'm sizing up the room, the people, and calculating line of fire. Rebecca used to be a little disturbed at my paranoia. Now she just flashes a patient smile, "Got it figured out yet?" I nod, not entirely comfortable.

Robbery in Idaho Falls

We’ve already had two robberies this month and eight this year. Fortunately, this is unusual for Idaho Falls. Typically, we get about 12-16 robberies a year – about 5 times lower than the national average for cities our size.

The national numbers for 2011 aren't yet available, but here’s a break-down so far:

Yeah, we had some pretty good luck on our solve rate last year, but we still have a good track record without it.

By the way, people sometimes say, “I’ve been robbed” when they really mean something else. At the risk of over-simplifying a bit, a robbery is when violence or threat of violence is used such as sticking a gun in your face and demanding your wallet. A theft is when they steal something when you’re not around and a burglary is when they take it from a building.

Two Officers Promoted

B. Squires and S. Hunt

The promotions are in. Officer Bill Squires is being promoted to sergeant and Sgt. Steve Hunt to lieutenant.

This was a tough decision because we had some excellent candidates to choose from, but both Bill and Steve have proven leadership ability and I’m confident they’ll do a great job.

Bill joined the IFPD in September 1995. He has served in patrol, detectives, and intelligence. He also knows how to hit the target. He’s a firearms and tactics instructor and is currently the SWAT team leader.

Steve joined us in July 1993 after serving as a Marine from 1988 to 1993. He’s had a variety of assignments in the department including patrol, detectives, and school resource officer. He was promoted to sergeant in March 2001.

Both Bill and Steve have been awarded Supervisor of the Year. What else do these guys have in common besides their reluctance to smile for the camera? Both are knights in shinning armor who are dedicated to keeping our community safe from those that would do us harm.

Good, Bad and the Ugly

Good News:

The violent crime index for Idaho Falls has dropped 19.6%. Actually, this is incredibly good news and follows a four-year trend. This number consists of four types of crime tracked by the FBI: Murder, Rape, Robbery, and Aggravated Assault. Property crime (Burglary & Theft) is down a modest ½%.

Bad News:

On the flip side, Rapes and Simple Assaults are up.

Confusing News:

Our patrol officers are doing an outstanding job of proactively finding and arresting drug offenders. These aren’t offenses reported to the police, but reflect the police ferreting out drug cases on their own. I’m impressed, but this accounts for most of the 4.1% increase in over-all crime reported in the Idaho State Crime Report. The rest of the increase is mostly reflected by a jump in simple assaults which are not factored in the national crime numbers tracked by the FBI.

Here are the actual numbers so you can check my math. You can also see them on the Idaho State Police website. When the FBI's national numbers come in, I’ll show you how we compare with other cities our size.

Evolution of a Parade Float

The original trailer

Bill and Dave hard at work creating the float trailer framework

The trailer after the frame was put on

Elizabeth Barnes helped with the Paper Mache to creat the large hats

The trailer partly decorated

The finished trailer

Officer Paul Murray's wife and children pose for pictures before the start of the parade.

By Joelyn Hansen

I'll be relishing the fact that it will be another few years before the IFPD is in charge of building the City of Idaho Falls 4th of July parade float. It's not that I don't get some satisfaction in letting my creative juices flow. But, building a float is a lot of work!

If you haven't done it before, I'm not sure I'd recommend it!

There were some key people that really helped make this float possible -- if anything they helped keep my sanity. I want to give a special thanks to the Ray and Sherri Barnes family. Who knew that there were such good people out their willing to give up time in their already busy schedules to help build a float. Did I also mention that they served as a transport service numerous times for a couple of VERY large hats?!

I also want to sent a special shout out to Sgt. Dave Frei and Sgt. Bill Squires for their willingness to build the float framework. They managed to take an old trailer and turn it into a workable float trailer. Thanks also goes to Ken Hunter from City Engineering that made the beautiful signs and the Parks and Recreation Department for lending the trailer!

And what float wouldn't be complete without riders. Heidi Murray (married to Officer Paul Murray) and the adorable Murray children really made the parade float a lot of fun!

Proof of Insurance Goes Electronic

May I see your driver’s licenses, registration, and proof of insurance? If you get pulled over, you’ll likely hear that request. Well now you can show the proof of insurance electronically. As of July 1, the Idaho Statute requiring proof of liability insurance has been modified to read:

“The certificate or proof of liability insurance required by this section may be produced in either paper or electronic format. Acceptable electronic formats include display of electronic images on a cellular phone or any other type of portable electronic device.”

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