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Small Town Knock And Talks

Article Submitted by :

jcurtman

about 1 year ago

3 articles submitted

Bloomfield, Missouri has a population of about 2,000. We are your basic small town in America. That being said we still have a narcotics problem. We have found that working with outside narcotics enforcement groups has not always been effective. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. We recently decided to handle most of our vice problems without the aid of outside agencies when we can.

We recently formed what we call the KAT Team. KAT stands for Knock and Talk. This team is composed of me, the assistant chief, and a reserve officer. Over the last year we completed about a dozen KAT operations. We have been able to locate illegal substances in a majority of these operations. The techniques we use are simple and run smoother the more that we use them.

Two vehicles are used. The assistant chief utilizes one and I use the other with my reserve officer.
When we arrive at the residence my reserve officer stays in the car while the assistant chief and I approach the door.

After making contact with the residents we advise them that numerous people in town have told us that they suspect drug activity is taking place in the house. We tell them that we are sure that these are just rumors and there is no truth to them but that we are tired of people telling us we are not doing anything about it. We also tell them that we can help them clear their reputation in the community. We ask them if we can have permission to do a quick search so we can put a stop to the rumors. We tell them we will do a quick search and when we don't find anything we will tell people that we have searched the house and did not find anything. We have not had a resident refuse a search yet.

After they agree to the search I call the reserve via radio. He approaches with our KAT Bag. This bag consists of consent to search forms, miranda waiver forms, drug testing kits, evidence bags, and evidence tape.

The resident then signs the consent to search form and the miranda waiver. We then ask them if there are any illegal substances or paraphernalia in the house. Sometimes they take us right to them. If they do I make not of their cooperation and thank them for it. My job is to observe the occupants of the house while the other two officers search each room methodically. While I am observing the occupants I make casual conversation about the pets that they have, their children, and what kind of car they have. I tell them about my dog and what I did last summer...anything to keep the conversation flowing. This puts them at ease and makes them more relaxed. It also keeps their focus off of the actual search being conducted, giving them less of a chance to ask us to discontinue the search.

If we find illegal contraband then arrests are made. If not, then we thank them for their cooperation and assure them that we will do our best to stop the rumors of drug activity at this location.