City of Lincoln
Police Department
Police Department
lincoln.ne.gov
Liquor Licenses Investigations
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The Northwest Center Team has been active in the downtown area with the enforcement of liquor license violations. In 1996, a variety of special liquor enforcement projects were conducted including one after the Colorado-Nebraska football game. In a pro-active effort, liquor establishements were educated on license violations and given training on methods for spotting false identifications.
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 Cpt. Citta |
Abandoned Vehicle Enforcement
With the passage of a new ordinance dealing with junked vehicles, Officer Kerry Crosby was
assigned as the NWC Team project coordinator. The abandoned vehicle project spanned a peroid
of three months. During this time frame, officer Crosby was able to significatly impact the
number of abandoned vehicles complaints. There were a total of 114 cases investigated and most
of them resulted in voluntary compliance.
Project Take Home
The Airpark area was experiencing a significant number of calls for service relating to the gathering
of groups of juveniles. The problem reported dealth with trespassing, vandalism, distrubances, and
underage smoking. One strategy employed was the implementation of a voluntary curfew program called
operation "take home." In a cooperative effort with Neighborhood Watch and Arnold Elementary, a system
was created whereby officers contacting juveniles late at night were given permission to transport them
home.
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Captain Jon Briggs identified Community-Based Problem-Oriented Policing as his vision for the Northeast Team in 1991. Since that time, the Northeast Team has taken several steps to meet that goal. |
 Cpt. Briggs |
Citizen Forum
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Captain David Beggs held a series of Citizen Forums to obtain input from citizens and learn their law enforcement expectations and needs. During the fall months of 1996 a forum was held with each neighborhood association. Crime issues were discussed and specific information was provided to the members. Captain Beggs had a printout of the calls for service occurring in specific neighborhoods and used that as a basis for discussing the diffent issues that needed to be addressed in the area. He and a participating beat officer were able to convey to the citizens the "character" of their neighborhood. The forum was also used to solicit problem-solving ideas. |
 Cpt. Beggs |
Issues
The Southwest Team became the new location for the Crisis Center at 2200
St. Mary's. The Crisis Center is a short-term care facility that is
utilized by persons in need of psychiatric assistance.
Continuing conerns about team area parks resulted in special enforcement in
Wilderness Park. To create a police presence and deal with complaints of
illegal activity occuring in the park, officers were placed on bikes during
the summer months to better patorl the area.
Licoln High School was assigned a School Resource Officer to exclusively deal
with the issues and concerns of Lincoln High students and administrators. The
previous year the School Resource Officer only worked part-time at Lincoln High.
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Citizens' Advisory Coucil
Captain Kim Koluch is pleased to announce the formation of a Citizens' Advisory Council in 1996. The council is comprised of citizens who live within the boundaries of the Southeast Team. Members will include participants from Neighborhood Watch, Business Watch. Citizen Academy graduates, and Parent/ Teacher organizations. The purpose of the Citizens' Advisory Coucil is to provide citizen input to the Southeast Team and serve as a communication link with various interest groups. |
 Cpt. Koluch |
McMenamin Homicide
Through persistent efforts and exhaustive investigative work an unsolved homicide from 1995 was brought to a successful conclusin during 1996. The death of 18 year old UNL student, Martina McMenamin, had a significant impact on the Lincoln community and caused heightened concern for personal safety. In June of 1996, Gregory Gabel was arrested for the murder.
Fourth of July
The Southeast Team was host to the city-wide Fourth of July Celebration at Holmes Park. Annually, this is the single largest one day city-sponsored event nearly 40,000 people. Activies include a fun run in the morning, softball tournaments, sand volleyball, kids activities and live music, culminating in a fabulous fireworks display to end the festivities.
Case Coordinators
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The Criminal Investigations Team under the direction of Captain Jim
Peschong, started utilizing case coordinators in August 1996. Two sergeants
have been assigned to coordinate the ciminal cases being worked by investigators.
Each case coordinator has specific crimes that they review. For example, one sergeants
is responsible for sex offenses, auto thefts, burglaries, robberies and thefts.
The other sergeant is responsible for weapons violations, missing person, deaths,
serious assaults, kidnappings, arsons, and bombs.
In June, an investigation involving counterfeit corporate checks began. The checks started appearing at local banks and amounted to a $79,000 loss. The case came to a successful conclusion and one person was arrested. |
 Cpt. Peschong |
Homicide Investigation
Two recent homicide investigations have generated a significant amount of
reports and committed time. The Tina McMenamin homicide has recorded 141
Field Interview/Intelligence reports, 554 Property reports, and 1,334 other
reports which include Supplementary reports and statements. Though not
totally inclusive, 483 follow-ups resulted in 150,986 minutes spent devoted
to the case.
The Michael Schmader homicide, which is still under investigation, has recorded 25 Field Interview/Intelligence reports, 135 Property reports, 407 other reports including Supplementary reports. In additon, 150 follow-ups have resulted in 52,551 minutes spent.