DeWitt Police Annual Report

The DeWitt Police Department is under the leadership of Chief Gene Ellis who is supported by a supervisory staff consisting of Captain Mike Osmun, the Investigations Division Commander. Sergeant Greg Waugh, the Patrol Division Supervisor, and Sergeant Marc Swingle, the Special Operations Supervisor.

The DeWitt Police Department serves the citizens of DeWitt and those that visit DeWitt 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Officers utilize marked police vehicles, foot patrol, an ATV and bicycle patrol for general patrol duties and occasionally utilize unmarked vehicles for special assignments.

Officer Shia Cruciani has served as the School Resource Officer since 2005. The DeWitt Police Department partners with the Central Community School District and St. Joseph’s Parochial School with the School Resource Officer serving as a liaison between the schools and law enforcement. The School Resource Officer’s charge is to provide a safe learning environment for students and faculty, build rapport with students and faculty to foster information sharing, and teach crime prevention and drug resistance education courses. The School Resource Officer devotes most of their duty time to work in and around the schools striving for positive interactions with students and following up on criminal cases where a student is a suspect, victim, or witness. The School Resource Officer also serves as the Department’s Juvenile Officer and assists the Juvenile Probation Officer assigned to the schools.

The DeWitt Police Department operates under a geographic responsibility based philosophy of Community Policing. Under this system, each patrol officer has a geographic area of the City, known as a “District” or “Beat” they are responsible for in addition to citywide response to calls for police service. Each officer is held accountable for activities, nuisances, problems, and crime prevention programs in their district and they are responsible for solving problems by building partnerships with community members who live or work in their district. Additionally, they act as a liaison between the citizens in their District and governmental services.

Criminal Investigations

The Criminal Investigations Division of the police department has seen a rise in more sophisticated computer and identity theft crimes, which has taken a great deal of Captain Mike Osmun’s time. Captain Osmun is also responsible for the Property and Evidence functions of the DeWitt Police Department and is the Internal Affairs investigator who investigates complaints lodged against departmental employees.

In 2006, the DeWitt Police Department joined the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), which is a federal initiative administered in Iowa by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. The DeWitt Department has been actively involved in numerous predator investigations and arrested 3 individuals for Attempting to Entice Away a Minor in 2008 as part of our proactive investigative activities.  

The DeWitt Police Department assigns each officer that lives in the city limits of DeWitt a take-home squad car. This provides better response time, a crime deterrent in the neighborhoods, an incentive for officers to reside in the city limits, better care of the car, and a longer life span for the car. We have been able to keep cars for 7 to 9 years with this program.

Reserve Unit

The DeWitt Police Reserve Officer Program is a vital component of the DeWitt Police Department making it possible for the Department to meet many community needs that could not have been met without our dedicated volunteer officers. The Reserve Unit supplements the Patrol Division, assists with community events, provides security at school functions, and performs a host of other duties that maximize the quality of service the DeWitt Police Department is able to provide. The current reserves are:

                        Reserve Captain           Lee Penningroth

                        Reserve Lieutenant       Richard Dunkin

                        Reserve Sergeant          Hollie Pitlik

                        Reserve Officer            Cyndee Hoker

                        Reserve Officer            Brian Billick

                        Reserve Officer            Jamie Stearns

                        Reserve Officer            Mike Fields

In 2008, DeWitt Police Reserves volunteered over 1,816.5 hours of their time assisting in the mission of the department and providing security at school and community events.

The Iowa Law Enforcement Academy requires peace officers in Iowa to receive on-going annual training on law enforcement topics in addition to topics required annually by ILEA. Additionally, training is insurance against vicarious liability. In 2008, DeWitt Police Officers and Reserve Officers received over 1,400 hours of continuing education. Many of the training classes were hosted at the DeWitt Police Department and several were outside of DeWitt at little or no cost to the City. Some of the topics included:

Criminal Law                Weather Preparedness              Search & Seizure          SRO Conference

K9 Searches                High Risk Traffic Stops Crisis & Conflict           Domestic Abuse

Cultural Diversity          IACP Conference                     Use of Force                Juvenile Law

Drug Trends                 Reserve Officer Conference      Warrant Service           DRE School

Narcotics Conf.            7 Habits of Effective L.E.          Tactical Response         Iowa System

The DeWitt Police Department is responsible for the enforcement of animal control laws in the City Limits of DeWitt. The City of DeWitt maintains an Animal Pound where lost or abandoned animals are cared for until they are claimed by the owner, adopted or are disposed. Sergeant Greg Waugh and Sergeant Marc Swingle share the duties of the animal control officer in addition to their regular duties. In 2008, 72 animals were sheltered in the City of DeWitt Animal Control Facility. This was a 31% increase in the number of sheltered animals compared to 2007.

Additionally, all cats and dogs living within the city limits are required to register and provide up to date immunization records annually. This process is coordinated by the police department’s administrative assistants, and as of December 2008, there are over 823 animals registered in the City of DeWitt.

The DeWitt Police Department has a presence on the World Wide Web at www.dewittpolice.freeservers.com.

The DeWitt Police Department is part of the Clinton County Communications Commission, which is a multi-agency 911 Dispatch Center that serves Clinton County, the City of Clinton, the City of DeWitt and the City of Camanche. These professionals are the lifeline for the community and for the officers.

Citizen’s Police Academy

In the Fall of 2008, the DeWitt Police Department hosted the 6^th Annual Citizen’s Police Academy made up of 13 community members interested in learning more about their police department. Our mission is to Promote Understanding Through Education. Members of the Police Department learned as much from the Citizen Academy members as they learned from us, which furthered our goals of building partnerships between the Department and the Community. Graduates of Class #5 were: Troy Eden, Megan Goodall, Dean Holst, Lori Holst, Bob Lomsdalen, Carol Macumber, Tony Manatt, Amanda Manatt, David Necker, David Pillers, Steve Pologruto, Kathy Rohling, and Jeremiah Willey.

Following graduation, the CPA Alumni are valuable assets to the police department by assisting with traffic control at several community events, helping out at National Night Out, and planning for future CPA Classes.

Courses and topics discussed during the Citizen’s Police Academy include: Understanding differences between law enforcement agencies; Communications Center, Courthouse and Jail Tours; Use of Force; Defense Tactics; TASER demonstration; Practical Problems; Criminal Investigations/Mock Crime Scene; Traffic Stops; and Building Searches.

In August of 2008, DeWitt joined communities across the Nation and over 33 million people as part of the annual nationwide crime prevention night known as National Night Out. We hosted a block party in Lincoln Park. Nearly 1,000 people attended this free event providing games, prizes, food, emergency vehicle displays and a K9 demonstration. We appreciate the DeWitt residents who came out for this event which allows us to show criminals that we are united and our communication is reciprocal.

The DeWitt Police Department believes that criminals are not aware of city, county or state boundaries; therefore, we must partner with other law enforcement agencies. Through our collaborative efforts, we make our communities safer and provide our citizens the most efficient service possible. The following illustrates the agencies the DeWitt Police Department partners:

§         GAPA (Gateway Area Police Administrators) a monthly meeting of area police administrators from DeWitt, Clinton, Camanche, Fulton and Clinton County Sheriff’s Office.

§         Gateway HEAT (Hazardous Entry & Approach Team) a tactical response team combining Clinton, Camanche, DeWitt, Clinton County, and Fulton, Illinois.

§         Clinton County Communications – a partnership between DeWitt, Clinton County, Clinton and Camanche that includes a shared dispatch/911 center and a computerized records management system.

§         Mutual Aid support for Camanche, Clinton, Clinton County and Fulton, Illinois Law Enforcement Agencies.

§         Quad Cities Council of Police Chiefs – Chief Ellis is a member of the Quad Cities Police Chiefs Council in order to be involved in law enforcement issues affecting our region.

§         Gateway Area Investigators Meeting – a monthly meeting of all detectives and investigators in the area to include State and Federal agents. Captain Osmun represents DeWitt at these meetings.

§         Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) – DeWitt is part of the this multi-agency regional task force based out of Cedar Rapids and under the guidance of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

In March of 2005, the DeWitt Police Department received a trained multi-purpose police service dog at no cost from the Sioux City Regional Training Center through a Federal grant. Officer Shawn Zeimet was selected as the K9 handler and went to Sioux City for complimentary training with his new partner “Slick.” In 2008, the K9 Team assisted with numerous drug searches, tracked fleeing suspects and conducted searches of buildings (see enclosed K9 Annual Report). The DeWitt K-9 Team trains regularly with K-9 teams from the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, Clinton Police Department, Maquoketa Police Department, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the Preston Police Department.

In 2008, Explorers assisted with several parades, the Skeffington Race, Triathlon, National Night Out, county fair, and at various school events.

In 2008, the DeWitt Police Department was awarded a traffic safety grant from the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau to make our roadways safer. The grant totaled over $21,000 and provided equipment and overtime monies to enforce OWI, seat belts and other hazardous traffic violations.

Additionally, the DeWitt Police Department was awarded the following grants and donations:

$3,000 in equipment from Canon for Internet Crimes.

$4,800 from DeWitt Police Foundation for equipment and training.

$1,500 in National Night Out Donations.