Idaho Falls enters new era with new Police Chief Steve Roos
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Yesterday Idaho Falls experienced a sudden law enforcement change, both in leadership and climate. Police Chief Kent Livsey, IFPD chief for 12 years, resigned effective the same day. Mayor Jared Fuhriman immediately appointed Captain Steve Roos to the IFPD chief position, and city council confirmation is expected at the next meeting.
I debated publishing anything on this for two reasons.
One reason is that while Livsey had a few problems (interpersonal conflicts, some bad things happening on his watch, a couple questionable decisions), you have to admit that in his twelve years he led Idaho Falls in reducing our crime significantly. Sure there were some high profile slip-ups, but I hope most people can give the man some credit for what his significant accomplishments without dwelling on his mistakes.
The other reason I was reluctant to start this discussion was I hope folks can give the new man some breathing room before jumping all over him. He deserves his honeymoon period just like any new hire or promotion. Even if you have not cared for Roos in the past, keep in mind that folks in new positions often work differently. Some rise to the challenge and the new position fits them like a perfect glove, others are promoted to their level of incompetence. Let us give Roos a fair chance to make his impact.
The backstory is that apparently Chief Livsey experienced a significant loss of support and confidence in his crew. Police officers voting to unionize probably sealed his fate. Mayor Fuhriman apparently gave ample notice to Livsey on October 10th that his contract would not be renewed, and Livsey chose to leave sooner rather than later. Some will probably grumble about Idaho Falls paying two chief salaries, but on the other hand I commend Livsey for getting out of the way so the Idaho Falls Police Department can dive right into the changes they need to make.
There is some grumbling that we did not conduct a nationwide search for a new police chief, and I think that is silly. One of the benefits Idaho Falls has in our mayor being a recent IFPD employee is that he still carries intimate knowledge of the IFPD. Why waste that knowledge and experience by conducting a nationwide search, as if Fuhriman does not know the IFPD environment?
What do you think?
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Comments
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0 
0 Years ago I attended an anti-drug rally for youth where a young Steve Roos was the speaker. I was so impressed by him and thought to myself “Now there is a guy who is going places!” In the years following that day he has appeared in the media many times and each time my first impression of him was strengthened. He comes across as humble, yet strong; tough yet fair, compassionate and knowledgable.
He is well spoken and will represent the community in a professional manner. I have learned through the comments on IFz and other sources that his integrity has earned him the respect and confidence of his fellow officers. I am impressed by his credentials and his ongoing efforts to further his education in law enforcement.
By my comments you would think that I am a relative or friend of his. I have never met him and only seen him the one time. But I do hope our community will appreciate the mayor’s courage in making this needed change and that we will give our support to Steve Roos as the new Chief of Police.
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0 0 I will have to agree with the majority that Livsey did not deserve the post that he held for many years. Even up to his departure some members of the City Council still considered him as a good choice for the Chief of Police. This still goes back to the discussion that has been held on this site many times that certain members of the City Council are out of touch with what is going on.
Kudos to Brad Landes and those in the Fraternal Order of Police for sticking their necks out. Any time that you point out the faults of the Administration you are a target. Ask several of the original members from Pocatello who brought the FOP to Idaho and you will find that there was retaliation from Admin every step of the way.
Roos will make a great Chief in Idaho Falls. The one problem that he will have to endure are the questions about his friendships with the Mayor. A nation wide search would eliminate any of the allegations down the road of a good ole boys network. It places Roos at an equal playing field of anyone who might put in for the position. It will then eliminate the allegations of friendships and allow him to do his job professionally.
The next thing Roos needs to do is to work on Accredation of his department. There are only a few within the State which have achieved this goal. It is alot of work, but the Officers and the Department will benefit from it. He then needs to see what he can do to build the relationships with other agencies.
Roos then needs to make sure that there are serious changes made in the Dispatch Center. A PR article addressed the shortfalls, but failed to identify the real reasons people do not want to work there. If the public were to know the real reasons it would be disturbing.
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0 0 Are the problems at the dispatch center any reflection of Capt. Mark McBride? McBride supervises that department doesn’t he?
Guest, why do you think morale at the dispatch center is so low? Or alternatively, what are the “real” problems going on at the center and how could they be fixed by the new chief?
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0 0 I disagree on the nationwide search thing. One benefit of Fuhriman being a recent cop is his knowledge and experience there. Plus Roos was a natural choice from what I hear. Those two things make me think a nationwide search would have been a waste of time and money.
If Roos had been chosen after a nationwide search, they all would have been criticized for having a hidden agenda the entire time and wasting everyone’s time. Nah, pick Roos and go forward I say.
I’ve heard about this certification thing, Pocatello PD has it don’t they? What areas do the IFPD need to improve to make this certification? It sounds like a great goal for the department.
I would also like to hear about these “real problems” in dispatch. I’ve always understood the biggest problem is low pay. Fix that and we will have more people so no 12-hour shifts. Isn’t the pay like $14 an hour now? For that stressful of a job, it should be closer to $20 an hour.
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0 0 With Livsey now just collecting a paycheck until the end of the year…even after resigning freely?, maybe some of the “Deadwood” of IFPD will fade away also. Its probably too much to ask for mayor Furhiman to resign also maybe more like wishful thinking.
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0 0 A number of random comments based on things said in all posts.
1) Don’t ever believe anything you read about crime statistics because depending on how you count crime the stats will fluctuate. Real IFPD Example: back when Livsey joined the department if a person went out and broke into 20 cars that was counted as 20 separate crimes. A few years under Livsey this suddenly started being counted as one crime with 20 victims. Now magnify that across a year with all the crime sprees where kids shoot out windows with pellet guns, where multiple people get their cars broke into, etc and you can see how it would show a huge decrease in crime. Crime has decreased slightly, not nearly as much as is reported. The biggest change is in the way we count crime. Over the last few years many major crimes were classified as suspicious incidents rather than the actual crime so that the violent crime stats wouldn’t increase. This doesn’t change prosecution but it does change the stats. The IFPD also changed how it counted calls for service so that reports are only generated on about 50-70% of calls which akes it appear officers are responding to fewer calls which is not true either.
2) The IFPD cannot currently receive accredation and likely will not ever be able to. Livsey tried many years ago, spent a lot of money on application fees (tens of thousands of dollars), and was rejected because part of it is having a certain number of officers per capita based on the population. The IFPD was down nearly 20 officers then. The PD is probably down more than that now given how fast the population is growing.
Sides which, accredation is just a piece of paper that looks good on a chiefs resume. It does nothing to actually make the cops better.
3) McBride has only been Captain at dispatch a few months. Before that was Roos. Before that were many other captains. But the problems have always been there so blaming any one captain is silly. Its part low pay, part problems with some lower level supervisors that Roos corrected during his time there, and part just stress of the job.
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0 0 I see that IF boy and Guest seem to have personal problems with Livsey. There facts are still spawned by rumor and they truly have no real knowledge of what is going on. IF guy, 30% to 50% of Officers are not happy with Livsey??? By which poll are you basing this? If you ask officers, no one seems to have been polled. If the ten million that you are talking about is the new building, then wrong again! The new police building is still in the plans and supported by Chief Roos. The city council meetings were not easy for Livsey because he was continually being attacked by Larry Lyon. If I had to deal with Mr. Lyon attacking me and my job at city council meetings and could not defend myself (Policy), I would be grumpy too!
Guest, you have to agree with what majority? Brad Landes and the rest of the FOP and department voted to go union because the city council and Mayor were proposing a large benefit cut and very small raise. It had nothing to do with Livsey. If you watched Landes on channel 3 the other day, you would have seen him struggling to name bad things the former Chief did. There was never any retaliation from Livsey on the decision to unionize. In fact, he always was neutral on the subject. Chief Roos is a good man but neither he or Livsey would be able to get Accredited in the current police station. The structure is not there. As for the dispatchers, yes the pay is lousy but Livsey secured a 2 grade pay increase for them before he left. The only other real problem is that like any other office where several people are mandated to stay for 10 or 12 hours, there are personality conflicts which cause infighting. As for crime reporting, the changes to the way they are being reported came from the State. Also when incidents are reported and quoted, they come from incident logged by dispatch, not the reporting system so even if there was no case report , it is still counted. If you want to write something about someone, please go to the source for your knowledge, not disgruntled employees or rumors.
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0 0 Anyone who thinks that the decision to unionize was based mostly on pay / benefits doesn’t know the real story. Landes didn’t say much the other night because he couldn’t. At one point he even said he couldn’t talk about numerous issues because they were personnel issues. Landes would be fired in a second if he started airing dirty laundry about contested disciplinary actions taken or not taken and issues like that. Oh sure pay and benefits are a big part of it but not the sole reason.
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0 0 Here is a link to a story about how many police agencies have manipulated crime data and how they do it and why they do it.
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0 0 His first real test …
catch the Phantom Pooper.
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0 0 Let me get this straight - 30-50% of the department was not happy with Livsey. So that means 50-70% is not happy with the change??? Now that is progress….
Should a Chief’s effectiveness be based upon a popularity contest with his subordinates?
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0 0 There was a time when the chief in IF was easly accessable to the public. Livsey was not. I was glad to hear that Steve Roos is going to have an open door police. Creating a relationship with the community is the first step to a good department. Given a little time the new chief will make a positive impact on department policy.
I think one of the changes needed is to weed out those cops who have the same distane for the public that Livsey had and give us officers who will look us in the eye and and treat the citizens with the same respect they would like to be shown.
Remember the bad apple story, there are a couple bad apples left in Livsey’s wake, root them out, the whole department will be better off for it, not to memtion the community.
Welcome Steve Roos.
Now that Livsey is gone maybe we can get the car per officer corrected. Especially no offices living out side the city limits should take one home.
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0 0 Shosanna, Its time to hold Jared’s feet to the fire he made this campain promice. That he would hold independent audits of each department. He has not done that nor will he unless we pressure him. Now He’s trying to say each department can be audited by the department heads. That is not what he promiced. He has had several former INEL managers offer to conduct those audits free of charge yet he will not do it. Craig Lords is deathly affraid of the results and telling the Mayor we don’t need out side audits.
Mr. Mayor get it done NOW!
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0 0 How much more and are the costs offset by the savings seen in terms of reduced maintenance and officer accountability when there is damage (when 40 guys are sharing a car its hard to pin damage down to one person)? And is the statement that it costs more then initial startup cost of the program which the IFPD is long past or the overall cost? And what about the intangible benefits like faster response times, increased visibility, etc? There are many things to consider besides cost and as I said there are more variables in cost than just the price of the car.
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0 0 Each officer that has a car pays a monthly stipend to take the car home (I believe it is now $50) which is automatically held out of their pay. I’m not sure whether supervisors pay this fee or not. Also, officers are not to take the car out of the city limits unless they are driving home and live outside the city limits. I think the policy needs to be reviewed in regards to those officers who live out of the city (Ammon could be an exception). Officers who do have a take-home car are responsible to see that maintenance is done in a timely manner. When you have 30-40 different officers using the same car, who is held responsible then?
In the big picture, IMO, it is more cost effective to continue with the take-home policy.
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0 0 Enough already about the car program. I am definitely no Livsey fan, but I have to give him credit for bringing us this great program. It has been a huge success nation wide. Yes, even small towns like ours, Rexburg, Blackfoot etc. have benefited by it. The benefits have already been stated many times before. I don’t think they need to be repeated. The program is here to stay. I have found that many of the loudest detractors of this program are other city employees who’s departments don’t have a “take home car” program. Let’s face it, how would the city benifet by having parks and rec. or library employees take cars home? Cops are unlike any other city service and should be treated such. They provide a public safety service that can be a matter of life and death to someone. I don’t hear anyone comlaining about the fire chiefs who have “take home cars” and live outside the city limits. Oh yea, everyone loves firemen, but try calling one when there is a violent crime in progress. The car program is good for the city and has proven that over and over. Just ask a neighbor of a patrol officer if he/she wants to see that patrol car taken away. Ask the city garage if the costs of maintaining each car have gone up or down since the program. Yes, it initially cost more, but those costs are long gone. Get, over the cars for the community program! It is good and here to stay.
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0 0 Here is some simple math on the car per officer program and what it costs. And take special note that the most expensive part of the program is already done and that money was spent long ago. So at this point we need to look at it as it currently exists.
A new police car costs about $30,000 once you equip it with everything.
First lets consider without a car per officer program. The patrol division, the only division that didn’t have take home cars already, has about 45 officers give or take but we’ll call it 45. At high staffing times, i.e Friday and Saturday night you’ll have 15-20 officers on so you need at least 20 cars. Now also consider that you need spare cars for the inevitable breakdowns and cars that get wrecked. Better have at least five standing by. So we need 25 patrol cars. But its not that simple because we also have to consider how long these cars last. When sharing cars most of them are going to run 7 days a week, 24 hrs a day meaning they will only last a few years tops since the mileage will be so high. Three to four years tops per car. And because they run that often they will have to have more maintenance. Thats a hard number to quantify so we’ll just say it will cost more and leave it at that. So being generous to the critics lets say those 25 cars all need to be replaced every 4 years at $30,000 a car. Thats $750,000 every 4 years.
Now with the car per officer program. Remember, its already in place and the money to get up to a car per officer is already spent. So its pointless to gripe about that and we now must just consider what it costs to keep it going. Under this program each officer keeps his car a minimum of six years and as long as the car is still running it will be a backup car after that for a couple years. The cars last this long becausethey are only being driven four shifts per week instead 21 shifts a week. Typically each year about six cars get replaced. At 30,000 a car thats 180,000 a year. Over four years thats 720,000. Which is cheaper than the 750,000 figure from above. So right there its a savings of $30,000.
Now again, this was an expensive program to start up but that money is long spent and isn’t coming back. So all we are dealing with now is yearly costs to maintain the program. And its cheaper as I’ve shown just on the car costs and then you have to count in the much cheaper maintenance costs as cars don’t break down nearly as often when they aren’t being driven 24/7. And lets not forget all the intangibles like increased visibility. And the officers pay money each month to take the car home which offsets much if not all of the gas they use.
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0 0 I’m a neighbor of a patrol officer and I do not want to see that car taken away!
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0 0 Hoo Ray!
Kent Livsey is gone!
The department has experienced an instantainious moral boost. We love it, sure there are some who will say ‘Oh he was ok, her hired me.’ That’s not saying much for the time he put in. Of course there are those who liked him but, overall this was a long over due and much needed change.
Now that I have spoken my pease I do have one positive thing to say about the X chief. He got rid of Crazy Richard, that was a great day.
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0 0 Thank god! Finaly IFPD is given back to the community. It is no longer going to tolerate rotten police behavior. Roos will not tolerate misconduct from officers. People of Idaho falls can finaly live in peace. The war between local mob like cops versus the people is over.
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0 0 LMAO at the last post.
You clearly have no idea do you. I despise Livsey but lets consider the following officers who were fired or resigned under Livsey’s tenure. Without getting into details since some of these didn’t make the press I know of five officers who were fired under Livsey. And I know of eight who were given the resign (retire in some cases) option or be fired.
If you want to criticize Livsey there are many things you can do it validly on. Holding officers accountable is not one of them.
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0 0 Sorry “i love america”, [edited by site admin] Your description of the good IFPD Officers “mob” is insulting. The truth is that they came to work every day and tried to do the best they could despite the terrible workplace Livsey had created. Things will improve with Chief Roos but he won’t need to fix the stupid things you stated. IFPD Officers do a great job, as a rule and should be appreciated for the good work they do instead of insulted [edited by site admin].
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0 0 Wow! I’m glad to know that there are so many who detested Livsey, I was beginning to think I was one of very few. Public pride can reign again, we will be able to be proud once again.
What really surprized me is the distain for Livsey that members of other city departments have expressed since he turned YELLOW and ran!
Looking back over the years I remember several stand out cops, “Blacky”, Tex, Marion, Roy, and many others I can’t remember right now. They would not have tollerated the actions of Livsey, he might just have recieved one of the famous educations that you recieve “Out Behind The Barn”.
How in the world can a Mayor hire a chief that was fired from his position as an assistant chief in another city. Was she blind? And how could a woman like Ida Hardcastle be so bambooseled that she acted like Livsey could walk on water and bowed to his every whim? Maybe its because she has been in power way too long and its gone to her head.
Have a GREAT WEEKEND IDAHO FALLS you have been liberated!
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0 0 Fired from the position of assistant chief in SLC? Get your facts straight Guest 71, the former chief was not fired from SLCPD. He retired, and the department was sad to see him go after 26 years of faithful service. Also, how do you figure he “turned yellow and ran?” He was told that his employment would be terminated next January, so he resigned because it would be nearly impossible to work effectively under an employer who does not want you there.
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0 0 SLC isn’t so far away as to not hear some info from their officers who served with Livesey there. I heard that, as is the case here, that many of his fellow officers were glad to see him go.
And of course, by resigning when he heard his contract would not be renewed, he can put on his resume that he resigned, instead of having to put on there that his contract wasn’t being renewed. Very savvy move on his part, although I agree that he would not be able to work effectively under the circumstances.
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0 0 I’m not a Livsey fan because he coddled those who brown nosed and he destroyed those who didn’t. He was a complete failure on a personal level to the majority of the officers which is ultimately what caused him be pushed out. The officers, except the brownnosers, couldn’t take it anymore and rebelled and voted to unionize. Make no mistake, thats the major thing that caused this happen. The city prayed the officers would give it up after the union vote when the city threw them a bone by actually giving a cost of living raise which they hadn’t planned on. Instead the officers marched on with plans to unionize since its working conditions not pay that is driving this. Forget what Tom Hally and Ida Hardcastle say about it all being about dealings with the city because that just shows how out of touch they are. Its the working conditions and the way the officers, particularly the patrol officers, were treated that drove the union vote.
But not everything Livsey did was bad. He brought the IFPD into the 20th century. Before that this department had no policies on anything and it was the Wild West as far as how things were run. Which is why you would have officers trying to shoot out the tires on cars. Why officers would be practicing their quick draws in the mirror and accidentally have the gun go off and hit another officer. That kind of behavior wasn’t tolerated under Livsey and the department became much more professional.
Livsey modernized the department with better equipment, better cars, better uniforms, better policies, better training, etc. Anyone that harkens to the old days of some of the old officers is dreaming. Back then officers like many of the ones mentioned were some of the most racist and corrupt people around who would take minorities into the desert and fire shotguns over the head to get them running (true stories from back in the 50’s and 60’s). Not to mention the burglary ring being run by officers of the IFPD back in the 50’s and 60’s.
Steve Roos is the perfect choice for Captain. Because he understands and will continue the things that Livsey did right. But he is also a great people person and won’t treat the officers like disposable parts. But in all this Livsey bashing we should give credit for the things he did do right. Livsey wasn’t a bad chief, he was just a flawed chief who had poor people management skills.
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0 0 Hey I am not just bashing I am putting blame on the boss the man who had the power to make the police officers under him act as public servants and not mean devils who arrest everyone they can and look for problems. I called the police about 1 year ago when one of my guns came up missing. The police came and started asking me questions like I am a criminal. I had no idea who could of taken my gun there had been several people over there the past few days. I named off as many people as I could. They arrested me and charged me with falsifing a police report. I did not falsify anything. It turns out the guy that stole the gun was sleeping with my childs mother all the time when I was at work. Kimbal Mason threatend to make sure we both get 1 year in prison and loose the kids to CPS. So yes I am very bitter towards IFPD. I think they are Nazi jerks who abuse thier badges. I am glad someone is here to stop them now Levi didnt care what crap most of them pulled. So protect Levi and his mob cops all you want. You have no clue unless they have oppressed you in some way. I have every right to dislike the reign of terror these guys made.
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0 0 Hmmm, considering the gross error of your timeline I wonder about the credibility of anything else you say.
You say it was about 1 yr ago. Thats kind of difficult since Kimball Mason hasn’t been prosecutor now for about two years and has been in prison for well over a year and a half.
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0 0 now that Livsey is gone, and once “Captain Stupid” and his sidekick “Elvis Presley” retire that Department might just have a chance. Steve Roos is one of the finest people I have ever known. Fill thos two Captains positions with the right people and that Department will be on its way to the top. It’s odd — all this talk about Livsey and what he did or did not do fo that Department. He did, in my opinion bring much modernization. He did plenty of good things. But he did mistreat people. If not directly, he certainly allowed it to happen by sitting back and letting his little henchman do what they wanted weather it was right or wrong. He allowed the morale of the department to be all but destroyed. He is directly responsible for that. He doesn’t need to be liked. He needs to be fair, trusted, respected and capable. Steve Roos is all of these things.
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0 0 I’m not sure I’ve heard such a bunch of childish bashing in a long time. I quite like Steve Roos and I think he’ll do a good job. But Kent Livesay also did a fine job. He’s come under fire because of what? Nobody seems to be able to state good reasons. Listen to yourselves. It sounds like a bunch of 12 year olds yelling, “My friend was fired!” Maybe he had good reasons of which HE can’t discuss because they were personnel issues. I thought he did a good job. He was the first to finally say that even teens needed to be treated with respect and not fear. Establish relationships with them. You get more flies with honey. The cops in this town used to terroize even the good teens. Oh my, I hope we don’t go back to that one.
I think Stommel really stooped to an all time low with his comments to the PR. His lack of professionalism regarding this matter is concerning. But he always seems to have to get this jabs in.
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0 0 Another Guest: What are you talking about in your reference to teen terrorizing ? Not only have I been a cop in I.F. for well over 10 years, but I grew up in Idaho Falls as well.
In being a teen here I never experienced your so called “teen terrorizing” nor have I seen or participated in what you are referring cops are doing.
Yes there are problems with the department; yes Livsey did do alot of good and yes, so will Roos. I have to agree with Feelin Lucky in that one of the biggest problems with Livsey was that he did allow those in power under him to basically run amuck. It seemed they had almost no limitations on what they did or how they treated people in general. There are numerous occasions in which Capt. and Lt.s mistreated others simply because they didn’t like them or they were a different religion or they possessed a differing opinion.
Case in point of one of the most recent ones: A certain former officer, one with a multitude of years of service which included detectives, swat, and being a field training officer wished to return to the department after having worked overseas. This former officer met with Chief Livsey who seemed to be in favor of his return. So it would seem that there would be no problems for this very experienced person coming back to the department. Not so fast: whether Livsey wanted the former officer to meet with the captain of patrol, or the captain of patrol decided he wanted to meet with the former officer I don’t know. But I do know that he did meet with the then captain of patrol, not once but twice. This certain captain in his infinite wisdom determined that the former officer, along with all of his years of experience, would not be able to participate in what he called his vision of community policing.
Thus Livsey decided he would not go against the wishes of this captain, even though Livsey seemed to have no problems with bringing this experienced former officer back to the department. So the former officer doesn’t get the job back and goes to the site to work as a security guard, where by the way he makes more money anyway.
Funny how things work out though; this certain captain gets himself transferred out of patrol (which is in itself another story) and then Capt. Roos is appointed to take over patrol. He has no problem with the former officer, along with all of his years and years of experience, and long story short, tells Livsey that he would be happy to have this guy back. So he quits the site job and is now back working with the police and bringing alot to the department and to the public.
The captains and upper level management under Livsey needed a real gut check sometimes and they never got it. Hopefully (likely) things will not be that way under Chief Roos.
This is only one example of many similar things that occurred under the Livsey regime. When it happens over and over again it causes morale to plummet. And the police department is just like any other business when it comes to morale; when it plummets, alot of other things go down with it. Being in law enforcement is stressful enough without all of the political BS. When we signed on to be cops, back in the day when we were all kids, we knew that we were signing on to basically fight the bad guys, we shouldn’t have to fight with the department or suffer both personally and professionally just because we aren’t one of the golden boys.
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0 0 My children experienced it. They were pulled over repeatedly and repeatedly told the officers to go ahead and search. They knew they had done nothing wrong, yet, the harrassment continued on average 1 to 2 x’s per week. At times, 3 or more patrol cars. Not at any point were they even cited for so much as running a stop sign. The final blow came when 3 of them happened to drive by a convenience store that had just happened to have been robbed by a “LONE GUNMEN”. They were handcuffed, told to sit on the sidewalk in freezing cold temps where they sat for what seemed to them an eternity. Then finally, the convenience store clerk came down and said no, it wasn’t them. This type of harrassment went on for over a year. Finally, up to my eyeballs with terrified teens on my hands, convinced they would go to prison for crimes they never committed, I made a call to IFPD. I asked the LT in charge (who was quite cocky initially) if they had done anything wrong. Not that he knew of. Were they under suspicion for something? Not that he knew of. The list went on and on. Nothing they could come up with. Yet they had been terrorized repeatedly. That is what I am referring to. Perhaps it wasn’t you. I don’t even know who you are. But I did tell the kids to start collecting names because if you couldn’t give me a reason and you couldn’t give them one, then it needed to stop. Chief Livesay, put a stop to it. That was many years ago. One thing I’ve noticed about those working with PD is that they get overly defensive without a need. I mentioned something, you got the story. But just because it wasn’t you, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
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0 0 1. Car Per Officer Program - Fact is the city looked at getting into a lease program which showed to be cheaper in the long-term due to the maintenance costs (which are higher by using the city garage versus outsourcing to local merchants). Secondly, many of the officers are driving 8-12 year old cars which have upwards of 140-170 thousand miles which for a police car if you include about half of those as idle miles really makes for a crappy car. Whoever said IFPD buys 20-30 cars every four years has misinformation. The IFPD has the worst fleet of vehicles in Eastern Idaho if not the State. I’ve talked to a lot of officers who have stated they don’t even drive their cars off duty simply because they are such crappy cars. (The officers I’ve spoken with advised that approximately 10% of officers on patrol drive their cars and of course most of the unmarked units are driven - detectives, SRO’s, admin, etc). Someone even told me ole’ Captain Gary Hagen likes to drive his IFPD vehicle up to his cabin in Swan Valley all the time…and usually when he’s working…I guess Captain’s have special duties.
Whatever it is…I hope Chief Roos will do what’s right and start knocking down some of these good ole’ boys and officers/detectives who haven’t done a whole lot over these past few years. You’ll see over the next few months I’m sure a drastic rise in crime because of the crime reporting fixing that used to go on around here. Hopefully the city’s new Chief won’t keep the citizen’s in the dark about the “real” drug and crime problem we have here. The city needs more officer’s and if you’re ever going to prove that to a city council, you have to have the numbers (either that or give Craig Lords a kickback - You know what I’m talking about).
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0 0 It would help if you got your facts straight local reporter. The Car Per Officer program is a good thing but if your going to throw out very false stats then your doing more harm than good.
Specifically the 8-12 yr old car figure. Twelve years means 1995 and the IFPD long ago retired every car from 1997 and before (thats only ten years). Very few cars are still being used from 1998-1999. In fact most cars are from this decade on which means seven years or less.
You are correct that Captains can and do drive anywhere. By city policy (not IFPD policy) the division leaders get take home cars to use as they please when they please within a several hundred mile radius. They also get their cars replaced every two years unlike the regular police officers who get theirs replaced every six to seven years.
All the angst over the car per officer program is severely misplaced since you can show a tangible benefit to the community from it. Whereas what benefit is there to the community in division leaders getting a new car every two years to use as they please? There is none and its purely a perk. The only question is whether its a needed perk? I’d say no and I imagine you would agree with me.
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0 0 Localreporter, If you really are a “local reporter”, I hope you check your sources for your stories better than you do for this site. Capt. Hagen has never had a cabin in Swan Valley. Oneoftwo, I agree with most of what you state but, if you are claiming that there was religious persecution under Livsey’s regime, I agree too, but in my experience it was against the prevailing religion in the area not for it. I personally heard Livsey telling jokes and negative stories about the prevailing denomination many times. If you need proof of his anti-slant, just take a look at who his inner circle was and their religions or lack there of. Anotherguest, post #33, In my experience MOST kids NEVER have contact with police and if so it is something very common like a traffic stop. IF your kids had as much contact with the police as you stated they must have been other than normal kids, if you get what I mean. Your story about, “just happen to have been passing a convenience store that had just been robbed,” combined with all their previous contact really makes me wonder…. Just what did Livsey do to “put a stop to it?” Sad story but hard to believe. Sounds to me like good police work.
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0 0 Steve Roos is going to have his work cut off for him in making sure that the Dispatch Center is run in an effective and professional manner. It has been plagued with numerous problems over the years, thus the high turnover rate. Saturday morning a Bonneville County Deputy was driving at a very high rate of speed down US 91 in Bingham County. He was not utilizing his emergency equipment and posed a danger to the public due to his speed and failure to use his emergency lights. A concerned resident called dispatch and talked with Sherri in the dispatch center. Concern was expressed and the caller asked to speak with the Deputy’s supervisor. Sherri stated that she did not feel comfortable in giving out the name of the supervisor. Sherri might possess the information as to why the Deputy was driving in such a manner and we all understand that there are emergencies which require quick response. One of the problems that has plagued the dispatch center is the treatment of the public when they call the center. There are many good dispatchers who work very hard and are very professional. All it takes is one person to tarnish the image of many. In this particular case the caller was not seeking to obtain confidential information, only to talk to a supervisor about concerns with the speed of the Deputy in his response. When dispatch refuses to provide such basic information such as the name of the Deputy’s supervisor, it gives the impression that the Dispatch is hiding something rather than explaining the reasons why the officer was outside of his jurisdiction and driving quickly. The public expects to be treated with respect when a call is given to the dispatch center. The public calls with concerns because they see things that Dispatch does not know about. If the supervisor does not get the information or the Sheriff is unaware of the concerns, it might lead to a situation in which several people have expressed concern over this same officers actions and go un-noticed and becomes increasingly dangerous. With Roos at the helm lets hope that he will make sure that the person supervising the Dispatch center reviews concerns with the public and implements appropriate training in how to be effective in communicating with the public. Thanks to those in the Communications Center that are professional and act appropriately.
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0 0 ifguyforlife - whatever you want to convince yourself of is fine by me. If it justifies the what you choose to believe, by all means, believe it.
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0 0 ifguyforlife: I agree with your opinion about Livsey’s slant against the prevailing religion. I guess the point I was trying to make was that his apparent ‘hands off’ approach that he took with his captains, led to arbitrary and inconsistent actions being taken against officers. Whether the officer was a member of the religion or not. And in some cases, some of the worst bias came from captains who are members against those who weren’t or weren’t active in the religion at least.
I’ll say again, that I do believe Livsey did alot of good in the department. While not one of the golden boys, I still hate to see him leave like this. However, I think Roos will do an outstanding job and has already started turning many things around and morale is up. I don’t think that it will be business as usual for the captains either.
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0 0 I do have one question for ifguyforlife. Tell me during the course of any given day, how many convenience stores you drive by? I drive by 2 just on my way to work which is a mile and a half. Five on Sunday’s when I go visit my mother. And yes, my kids are very ummm… “normal” and both are now upstanding citizens in the communities they live in with far better paying jobs than any cop will make. And yes, very legal jobs I might add. So your justifications in my opinion, border that of a criminal mind. It frightens me to think that you are a cop.
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0 0 Most kids NEVER have run ins with the police. If certain kids are repeatedly having dealings with the police than that speaks volumes to how those kids are behaving. The only kids who have repeat dealings are the ones who are continuously involved in lifestyle that would bring them into contact. It could be they are repeat reckless drivers, you know the ones who drive at Mach 3 on 17th street switching lanes back and forth, or the ones who are hanging out at drug houses, etc. Of course though its much easier for a parent to blame the police than consider that maybe their child isn’t behaving angelically.
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0 0 Ummm ok, whatever you say. Try reading the whole post. You’re quite wrong.
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0 0 I’m finding the defensive behavior quite typical of IFPD. I have better things to do then give you credibility unless of course, you can read the entire posts. It would be nice to think this behavior might have changed over the years, but clearly it hasn’t. I find it very, very sad to think that grown men cannot accept responsibility for a wrong doing, especially given their positions in Idaho Falls. Sorry to say you guys, but you aren’t always right.
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0 0 Another Guest- im guessing you and you perfect children are always right!! Im also not sure what your children make is relevent to this discussion. It is sad what cops in this area make.. IMHO cops and teachers make a fraction of what they deserve!! I hope you never have to deal with the cops in our area because i would not want them to put up with your perfect self righteous attitude, hope you “normal” children also have a law enforecemnt free life.
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0 0 This is starting to sound like police harrassment. My apologies if you couldn’t take my post and admit you may have been wrong. It was foolish of me to suggest that IFPD could ever have done anything wrong. Police officers are perfect and of course, my kids must have been heathens in disguise. The sarcasm generated from you guys is insane and I probably should have expected the response given the ultra superior mentality. I don’t believe my attitude was self righteous. I do believe that I pointed out a wrong and you guys over reacted to it. But Lord knows, you won’t fess up to that. The only non angelic teens here, are the cops responding to my post. I’m not even going to bother responding to any more of your harrassing posts. It sounds too much like gang warfare.
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0 0 Another Guest: I’m happy for you and your sons that they seem to have been able to rise above all of the harassment they must have suffered at the hands of the IFPD. Kudos to them that they are making so much money, “far more” than any cop will ever make.
While cops see supremacy attitudes displayed, much like yours, many times over and over we will still continue to do our jobs to the best of our abilities. I’m sorry that we can’t please everyone all of the time, but that’s just the way it goes. I would never have the ignorance to believe that I was right about everything all of the time. As far as your original post concerning harassment of teenagers: that particular group of people are about the last ones I want to deal with, simply of all the headaches involved in dealing with teens (due in part to parents who just can’t believe that little Johnny would ever do anything wront).
Most teens today certainly don’t show the same respect to authority and their elders; the way that us in the ‘older generation’ were brought up to act. Probably the same way that you were brought up too.
This may be hard for you to believe, but if your kids really did have contact with law enforcement as much as you say, then there was something about their behaviors that triggered it. Otherwise they would have been left alone.
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0 0 oneoftwo - It’s interesting to note that I clearly pointed out that the LT in charge admitted that my kids were not under suspicion for anything nor did they believe they were guilty of anything, but this has been overlooked by each of you.
I pointed something out and have been the subject of much sarcasm, the very sarcasm that my kids and I found quite difficult to deal with at the time
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I’ve never had any dealings with Steve Roos in his professional capacity, but I have had the opportunity to interact with him on several occasions. I have found him to be extremely polite and courteous and was left with the impression that he is a very high-caliber person. I wish him the best of luck in this new position.