First off, I would like to say thank you for the warm welcome that my family and I have received since moving to Beatrice. This city is a wonderful place to live! My family and I are getting settled and have begun enjoying many of the things Beatrice has to offer.
I would also like to recognize the amazing staff at the Beatrice Police Department and Southeast Communications Center. They amaze me every day with their passion and professionalism. I have never worked with a group that cares more about their community. It is an honor to work with people of this caliber.
The Beatrice Police Department is very fortunate to have many specialized positions to augment our patrol function. We have two very special and popular four-legged officers. K-9 Toro and K-9 Thomas are great assets to our department. K-9 Thomas is assigned to patrol and K-9 Toro is assigned as a school resource officer at Beatrice High School.
Speaking of our School Resource Officer (SRO Program) we have two wonderful SROs. Officer Nesbitt and Officer Lauenstien are working hard in the middle school and high school, respectively. Our SRO’s number one priority is the safety of the children in the school. They also work all home high school football games.
We also have an investigations division that handles most felony investigations as well as narcotics investigations. The investigations division is currently staffed with four investigators. The investigations division works alongside the patrol division to ensure that we are doing everything possible to solve crimes that occur in our city and often in the surrounding areas.
Our Victim Assistance Program is staffed by two extremely caring and compassionate ladies. Their job is to help victims navigate the justice system and to provide resources to help victims through difficult times. The Victim Assistance Program has been an amazing benefit to our community as well as the Police Department.
Our 911 dispatch is the Southeast Communications Center. Our communications center is the first voice that you hear in an emergency. Our dispatchers are highly trained and are excellent at their jobs. Having the dispatch center in our agency is a great asset to our community.
We also have a fantastic civilian staff. They are the backbone of the police department. They handle records, database administrations, walk-ins, non-emergency phone calls, etc.
I am very proud of our many community policing projects. Recently, we expanded our lunch with a cop to fishing with a cop. We are very thankful to many partners in the community who have donated to support these programs for our children. We also volunteered with the Special Olympics again this year. We enjoyed the opportunity to promote these incredible athletes in our community.
As a police department, we want to take every opportunity to proactively prevent crime instead of reacting to crime. I want to take this opportunity to share some helpful tips to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of opportunity.
As we move into the holiday season with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all right around the corner I want to remind everyone to not make themselves a victim. When out shopping please do not leave valuables in plain sight in your car. Lock your doors. Don’t leave purses unattended in shopping carts. Remember not to leave cardboard boxes beside the trash cans advertising items that you recently purchased. And finally, just be aware of your surroundings. If something seems suspicious call 911.
These few tips can go a long way in making sure that you have a great holiday season.
John Hickman
Chief of Police