Springfield Police Chief Ken Scarlette has made a report to City Council that included, among other things, an update on recruitment and the SPD’s special detail to curb “pop-up” parties—those impromptu, rave-like disruptions which often occur on weekends as a function of people coming in from out of town to crash and trash public spaces.
On recruitment, Scarlette reported fourteen officers began their academy training last week. The more officers there are on the beat, the more options there will be for shift work and special details. “The end goal,” Scarlette said, “is to maximize the use of our manpower and resources to see what works best for our agency.”
Ward Five Alderwoman Lakeisha Purchase expressed her concern that the most recent class of newly sworn officers lacked diversity, as it was made up of only white men.
Speaking of special details, it’s been a priority for Scarlette to curb so-called summer “pop-up” parties. Since May 21st, he reports twenty-four arrests and nineteen firearm confiscations associated with groups who come to Springfield, often from out of town, to cause trouble.
Scarlette says his department partners with police in neighboring cities to curb such activity.
“We work very closely, specifically with the Decatur Police Department,” Scarlette said. “It seems like there is a lot of travel back and forth between Springfield and Decatur, so we certainly have a good working relationship between Decatur as well as [with] other surrounding jurisdictions.”