INFORMATION #1 01-06-1997Police Department
Thomas D. Zerwas
Chief of Police
January 2, 1997
SAF BER
Mayor Hank Duitsman
Council Member Roger Holmgren
Council Member Larry Farber
Council Member John Dietz
Council Member Daryl Thompson
Dear Mayor and Council Members,
As supervisors in the Elk River Police Department, we would like to thank you for the support that you have
given to ChiefZerwas during the Ken Rollins incident. We whole-heartedly support the decision in this
matter and we appreciate it that you stand behind Chief Zerwas' decision. It was not a decision arrived at
lightly or without considerable analysis or research. ChiefZerwas's standards for principles and ethics in law
enforcement set an example that should well be a standard for the entire law enforcement community as well
as the officers in this department. We are proud to work for an administration (Both ChiefZerwas and the
Elk River City Council) who highly value honesty, integrity, and professionalism in law enforcement. These
are the things that a good police department is built upon. They build and create trust and confidence in the
police department by the people in the community. We are also pleased to work for a City Council who
values the knowledge, experience, opinions, recommendations, and decisions of the Chief of Police.
We believe that the recent district court decision affirms the fact that this was not just a minor affair. Ken
Rollins conduct during the incident and the investigation of the incident only serve to undermine trust in and
the reputation of this department. We are confident that the decision will stand on appeal.
Thank you again for your support of Chief Zerwas and of the Police Department.
Respectfully,
Sgt. Brad Rolfe
Sgt. ~
Sgt. Ron Nierenhausen
13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 723 · Elk River, Minnesota 55330 · (612) 441-2324 · Fax (612)'441-8937
SHERBURNE COUNTY
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES'
SAFE & SOBER PROGRAM
NEWSLETTER
SAFE & SOBER FOR ANOTHER YEAR 4TH QUARTER OUTSTANDING OFFICERS
As most of you already know, funding for our Safe & Sober
campaign for 1996/1997 was once again approved. This year
we should also be able to work a few more overtime enforcement
shifts than last year. As you all know, the overall goal of the
Safe & Sober program is to increase seat belt and child safety seat
~usage and reduce the number of impaired drivers on our roadways.
FOURTH QUARTER 1996 RESULTS
The 4th quarter enforcement period ran back in August and had a
sub-focus of 'Seat Belts'. We had excellent results in August.
During this enforcement period we worked 198.5 hours and
stopped 397 vehicles. We gave out warnings for 28 seat belt
violations, 53 speeding violations, and 74 other violations.
The area that we really shined in the 4th quarter was the number
of citations. We gave out 56 citations for seat belt or child
restraint violations, 47 citations for other violations and 216
citations for speeding. Since this over-time doesn't cost our
agencies for the man-hours, our adminL~trators should be pleased
to see the extra fmc revenue come in. Wc also had 11 DUI arrests
and 6 other arrests. In total we had 155 warnings, 319 citations
nd 17 arrests.
YEAR END TOTALS
Here is the total activity for the whole program year. Together we
worked 718.75 hours and stopped 1,157 vehicles. Of that we gave
721 warnings, 715 citations, and made 83 arrests. Broken down, we
gave the following warnings: 70 f6r seat belt or child restraint vio-
lations, 241 for speed, and 410 for other violations. For citations,
we issued 100 for seat belt and child restraint violations, 455 for
speed, and 160 for other violations. We made 45 arrests for DUI
and 38 other arrests. Some of the other arrests or violations include
24 driving after withdrawals, 11 drug violations, 1 firearms violation,
and 16 warrant arrests.
YEAR END GOAL COMPARISONS
For the 1995/96 year we had the following program goals: 1) Two
(2) contacts per hour per officer during an overtime enforcement
shift, 2) 50% of all of those contacts resulting in citations rather than
warnings, 3) 20% of all of our contacts are seat belt or child restraint
related, and 4) 8 - 10 DUI arrests per weekend of DUI enforcement.
Here is how we did. 1) For vehicle contacts per hour we averaged 1.6.
This was below our goal but a change in the record keeping system for
this coming year will give more contact credit for DUI arrests. I also
hope that officers can be even more active this year than last year.
2) Citations vs. Warnings. This area we did very well in. We averaged
68.9% of all contacts resulting in citations or arrests. 3) Seat Belt or
~hild Restraint Contacts. This area we need to improve upon for 1997
also. Last year 15% of our contacts involved these offenses, our goal
was 20%. 4) DUI Arrests. We were fight on track with this goal.
We had 45 DUI arrest which averaged 9 per weekend.
The fourth quarter really had some outstanding and impressive
statistics from allot of officers and deputies however, two
deputies really top the list. These deputies are Chad Jolm~on
(3530) and Jeff Baker (3526). During the daytime enfo~e-
ment shifts, both of these deputies worked two shifts each On
The same day, Johnson had 24 vehicle stops and 24 citations
while Baker had 22 vehicle stops and 24 citations. Not only. that,
Baker had 10 vehicle stops and 7 citations on the other day that
he worked and Johnson had 18 stops and 16 citations. These
deputies certainly deserve some credit for helping to make all
the roads in Sherburne County safe.
There were also allot of excellent ranncrs-up during the day time
overtime enforcement shifts. Tim Jeanetta (3537) had 15
stops with 17 citations, Paul Novotny (3524) had 13 stops, 12
citations plus picked up a runaway and cleared a burglary,
Bruce Wipper (3910) had 15 stops with 18 citations, and Dave
OIson (3623) had one day with 15 stops and 15 citations and
another day with 17 stops and 17 citations.
During the night time overtime enforcement shifts there were
also several great shifts however one really stands out. Officer
Dave Olson (3623) went 10-8 at the Elk River PD at 2100 hrs.
As he was leaving the police department he stopped a vehicle
that had passed by him as he exited the parking lot. The stop
was made at 2101 hours and was the fa'st of three DUI arrests
for Olson for the shift. Olson also had 5 other citations for the
shift including a driving after revocation.
Baker, Johnson, and Olson should check their PO boxes for
this quarters reward for their Top Performances..
THANKS!! & MORE
As Project Director for the Sherburne County Law Enforcement
Agencies, I would like to thank all of the officers and deputies
who contributed to the success of the Safe & Sober program.
I know that many may see this as simply an opportunity to make
some extra cash by working overtime but I think that most of
you enjoy the activity and feel like your making a contribution
towards the safety of our communities. How many of you watch
the TV commercials where they show a small child with his or
her parent or a couple of young people together, then they run
the caption 'Killed by a Drunk Driver - December xx, x'ccx' and
wonder how people can drive that way. Well folks, we are the
ones who can help make a difference. We will never know how
many of these tragedies are prevented by us by taking each
drunk driver offof the road that we can. I simply hope that each
of you working the project in 1996/1997 will work your shifts
aggressively, educate the people you come in contact with. and
be very safe out there. Sgt. JeffMordal, ERPD