• About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Thursday, April 15, 2021
59 °f
Platte
45 ° Fri
47 ° Sat
49 ° Sun
49 ° Mon
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
No Result
View All Result
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
No Result
View All Result

Police chief stepping down

Ivan Foley by Ivan Foley
November 17, 2018
in Local News
4
SHARES
97
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email

The police chief’s nearly nine year stint in Platte City is effectively over.

Following a very short executive session at a board of aldermen meeting Tuesday night, Platte City Mayor Frank Offutt announced Carl Mitchell is retiring effective Feb. 28.

RelatedNews

Proposed sewer rate hike nixed on split vote

Judge tells city attorney ‘put case on front burner’

Junior college tax fails; R-3 bond issue passes

Mitchell has not been on the job since being placed on ‘temporary reassignment’ in early September while an outside evaluator conducted a study of the culture and organizational issues within the department. During that time, city officials said Mitchell was assigned to work from his home on emergency management issues.

The evaluator gave a verbal report in closed session to aldermen last month. After that meeting, city officials said the city attorney and city staff would provide implementation options in response to the report.

Then this week came the announcement of Mitchell’s impending retirement.

City officials said the evaluation identified officers’ concerns regarding internal communications and organizational culture issues, including a negative work environment related to the management and communication style of the department’s command team.

“However, the evaluation found that Chief Mitchell had neither engaged in, fostered or allowed gender or racial harassment nor had he engaged in any other prohibited or sanctionable command actions,” the city said in a press release issued Wednesday morning.

DJ Gehrt, city administrator, said Mitchell is now considered to be on medical leave and is using his accrued leave through his retirement date.

“The city will immediately initiate recruitment for a full time chief of police,” Gehrt said in response to a question from The Landmark. “Recruitment notices will be placed in local, regional and national law enforcement recruitment sources starting this week.”

Through an agreement with the Platte County Sheriff’s Department, the city had hired Lynda Bristow, a deputy with the sheriff’s department, as interim police chief. Bristow started in mid-October and told The Landmark her agreement was for up to 90 days.

In a recent interview with The Landmark, Bristow dodged a question as to whether she’d be interested if the job came open on a permanent basis.

“I don’t burn bridges,” she said.

At the same time that Mitchell was placed on reassignment, his top assistant, Lt. Al Devalkenaere, was also reassigned to work from his home. Devalkenaere, according to Gehrt, has been reviewing the department’s written policy manual while on reassignment.

“There has been no change in Lt. Al Devalkenaere’s indefinite temporary assignment,” Gehrt said this week.

The outside evaluation of the department came on the heels of multiple officers reporting new or continued concerns about cultural issues within the department to elected officials of the city.

Gehrt said over the past 10 years the police department has experienced “significant improvements and success.” He noted things such as improved and better-equipped vehicles, improved officer uniforms and equipment, increased pay, additional training opportunities, reductions in serious crimes and overall crime rate, a low racial disparity for traffic stops, increased community involvement and outreach activities, and significant increases in survey results of public perception of the department.

While acknowledging the significant organizational improvements and improved performance results, the city administrator also said the police department has a pattern of short-term retention for new officers “and periodic reports of officer concerns regarding organizational culture.”

The city has taken numerous informal and formal steps to address officer retention and to improve organizational culture including increasing pay, decreasing service requirements for a longevity pay increase, and beginning a senior patrol officer program.

Gehrt said over the past four years the city has conducted two informal department wide reviews and one formal department wide review was done by the city attorney.

“Officers have generally reported improvements to the physical working conditions and organizational culture following each of those reviews,” Gehrt said.

Mitchell’s retirement comes after a career of nearly 45 years of local law enforcement, including his nearly nine years as chief in Platte City.

In a press release, city officials said Mitchell’s service in Platte City includes the distinction of being the longest tenured of any Platte City chief over the past 40 years.

“His service as Platte City’s chief of police caps a distinguished law enforcement career which includes service as a military police officer in the US Marine Corps, nearly 30 years service with the Schaumburg, Ill. Police Department and nine years as Platte City’s chief,” the news release states.

“Mitchell’s career in Schaumburg included tours as a patrol officer and major crimes detective before moving into the police command ranks as a sergeant, lieutenant, captain and division commander,” according to the press release.

City officials in their press release said Mitchell’s tenure in Platte City “included significant improvements to the police department’s organizational, operational and community engagement components. Organizational improvements included upgrades to police vehicles, communications, information systems, firearms, non-lethal weapons and protective equipment. During his tenure, Platte City also enhanced its in-car recording systems and was among the first Kansas City metro area departments to deploy body cameras for all patrol officers.”

The news release goes on to say Mitchell’s service “was also marked by increases in police officer pay, benefits and training with an emphasis on community engagement and service improvement training. Significant community engagement events initiated or expanded during Chief Mitchell’s tenure include National Night Out Against Crime, Shop With a Cop, School District Lunch with a Cop, the Police Chaplain program, the Multi-Family Community Program and the Compliance Citation Program.”

Tags: Frank Offuttplatte cityplatte countyPublic Safety
Ivan Foley

Ivan Foley

Ivan Foley is owner/publisher of the Platte County Landmark. Foley has been on the news beat in Platte County with The Landmark for 39 years, specializing in local government and accountability journalism. He provides weekly observations and editorial commentary in his Between the Lines column and serves as host of Landmark Live, a light-hearted videocast featuring newsmakers in the Northland. He has penned multiple award-winning pieces during his time with The Landmark. In 2016, Foley won the Tom and Pat Gish Award, a national honor given by the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Kentucky for displaying courage, tenacity and integrity in journalism. Foley resides in unincorporated Platte County.

Related Posts

Proposed sewer rate hike nixed on split vote

Proposed sewer rate hike nixed on split vote

by Debbie Coleman-Topi
April 15, 2021
0

Parkville mayor forced to break tie A proposal to raise sewer rates for residents who use the Parkville sewer system failed during a board of aldermen meeting last Tuesday. The measure, which called for raising rates by six percent, followed...

Judge James Van Amburg

Judge tells city attorney ‘put case on front burner’

by Debbie Coleman-Topi
April 15, 2021
0

'You need to do better,' Van Amburg tells city's legal counsel In a hearing in which the plaintiff accused the city's attorneys of "gamesmanship" when it comes to producing discovery, the Platte County judge in a Sunshine lawsuit once again...

Ball field talk gets heated at Parkville

Ball field talk gets heated at Parkville

by Debbie Coleman-Topi
April 15, 2021
0

Aldermen get short with one another The end of the latest Parkville Board of Aldermen meeting erupted into a heated exchange as members debated future plans for a local park, effects on adjoining wildlife wetlands and a grant application that...

Sunshine antics at Parkville

Sunshine antics at Parkville

by Landmark Digital Staff
April 15, 2021
0

EDITOR: I continue to read and be amazed at the antics of the Parkville aldermen over this Sunshine Law and violations thing. They keep losing in court yet keep spending more money on legal fees, with the total growing day...

Next Post

Salary increase of 2.5% recommended at county

Popular News

  • Major subdivision planned along Crooked Road

    Major subdivision planned along Crooked Road

    41 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • City, state will team up to repair Hwy. 92

    13 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • Newest order in Sunshine case favors Jason Maki

    11 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 3
  • Judge tells city attorney ‘put case on front burner’

    8 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 2
  • Say no to new tax

    7 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 2
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Call us at 816-858-0363

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Subscribe Online
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist