Police chief: Trust key to keeping community safe

Deputy editor

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A partnership founded on trust is the key to keeping the community safe, according to Clovis Police Chief Steve Sanders.

“The biggest thing is you've gotta develop trust,” Sanders said Monday shortly after releasing the police department’s annual report. “(The community has) gotta trust us in order to come forward with information they have to help us solve the crime.”

According to Sanders, the department has seen a 13 percent total decrease in crime.

“It's decreased two years in a row, so that's a pretty cool deal,” Sanders said.

According to the 2014 report, there was a 44 percent decrease in rape from 2013, and a 21 percent decrease in robberies. There was no change in the number of homicides, and an 11 percent increase in aggravated assault since 2013.

The Special Operations Unit, which investigates homicides, rapes, robberies, burglaries, aggravated assaults and thefts, solved 47 percent of their cases in 2014, according to the report.

“They have good leads and suspects,” Sanders said. “It helps a bunch.”

To keep the team on point and certified, Sanders said the department is required to conduct trainings every two years for investigators, and new detectives must go through interview and interrogation classes.

“The partnership with the community is successful,” Sanders said. “If they didn't come forward, it makes it extremely hard for us to go in and solve those cases.”

The report also listed how hard the K-9 unit worked in 2014. According to the report, K-9 Ringo responded to 1,893 calls for service, participated in 61 narcotic searches, assisted in 110 team arrests and tagged along for 570 traffic citations.

Ringo and his partner, Master Police Officer David Wetmore, retired and “left Clovis for Toledo, Ohio,” the report stated.

According to Sanders, the K-9 unit participates in 14 weeks of training with the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

“There's six weeks of patrol dog training, and I believe there's six weeks of narcotics,” Sanders said. “And for two weeks they do obedience and bonding with their dogs. It doesn't cost us anything, and we pay such a large cost for the dogs themselves, it's a great opportunity to train when (Arizona Department of Public Safety) trains.”

Sanders said citizens need to continue reporting suspicious activity and he credits the community with the decrease in crimes.

“The public just has to be willing to call and provide us with the information,” Sanders said. “Sometimes too, by giving us a call before the crime is committed, it's probably why there's a decrease in crimes.”

The report is available to view here: 2014 Annual Report