PEA RIDGE — As the town has grown, so have city departments, including the Police Department.
In April 1995, there were two full-time and one part-time police officers in town, said Police Chief Tim Ledbetter of when he was hired. That number decreased to one full-time and one part-time, but then increased steadily as the city’s population increased. Now, there are 11 police officers.
“Along with the growth of the town, we’re trying to grow the department accordingly and that includes building a rank structure,” Ledbetter said, as he announced promotions within the department.
Ryan Walker was promoted to sergeant. Rick Helmer was promoted to corporal, joining Cpl.
Mitch Brown. Chris Olson was named investigator.
“In the past, the rank structure was limited due to the limited number of officers,” Ledbetter said.
Sgt. Walker said the workload for the department has increased. He said there were 243 reports filed in 2000 and 660 in 2010. So far in 2011, there have been 322 reports filed.
“We’ve gone from trying to cover the streets 24/7 with two officers to having enough officers to always have two officers on duty during peak times,” Walker said. He said the officersare trying to be proactive and prevent crime by their presence and not just react to it.
“We’ve increased the Police Department in a modest, but efficient manner,” Ledbetter said.
“We don’t believe we’ve overreacted nor ignored the growth.”
“I want to commend the officers for doing their jobs so well,” Ledbetter said. “Thank you for putting forth the effort,” he told the officers, as he announced the promotions and changes within the department.
“Know that the door down the hallway is always open,” Ledbetter said, adding that patrolmen answer directly to the corporals who answer to the sergeant who answers to the chief.
News, Pages 1 on 04/06/2011