2012 Annual Report - City of Urbandale

Urbandale Police Department 

2012 Annual Report 

U.P.D. Mission Statement 

The Urbandale Police Department is dedicated to 

enhancing public safety and maintaining the quality of 

life for the community we serve.



3740 86th Street 

Urbandale, IA 50322-4016 

Ph: 515-278-3938 Fax: 515-252-8243 

Ross M c Carty—Chief 

Chief’s Message 

As mentioned in last year’s Chief’s Message, we’ve used the last two and a half years to position ourselves to 

achieve full accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (C.A.L.E.A.) 

The process for achieving accreditation involves three years of planning and preparations. As 2012 ended, 

we finalized preparations for a mock assessment, comprised of colleagues from other accredited departments, 

to visit U.P.D. and review our preparations prior to the arrival of the C.A.L.E.A. Assessment Team, later 

this summer. The mock team comes into our department for two and a half days to conduct a full audit of 

the standards required for accreditation. From the mock assessment team’s report, we’ll have approximately 

five months to finalize our three year preparation for the actual assessment. Before the end of 2013, we expect 

to achieve full accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies 

(C.A.L.E.A.). 

We believe that the Urbandale Police Department is one of the best police departments in the United States. 

Achieving accreditation will validate our claim. Accreditation is a proven method for assuring organizational 

accountability, implementing the very best model policies and practices, providing a professional business 

climate to our employees, and assuring regular inspection of all aspects necessary to providing the best of 

police services. To learn more about the accreditation process, visit: www.calea.org 

Community Policing concepts continue to be embraced by our department. This past year saw the police department 

working with our business partners to bring another fantastic National Night Out program to the 

community. Over 1,000 community members participated in the event, which is held annually on the first 

Tuesday evening in August. For our efforts to bring our community together for N.N.O., the Urbandale Police 

Department received national recognition for the third consecutive year. 

Our Community Relations Officer, Randy Peterson, received the Crime Prevention Officer of the Year award 

from the Iowa Crime Prevention Officers Association. In addition, our K-9 team of Officer Shane Taylor and 

his partner Sabre, received Case of the Year recognition from their peers of the Heartland of America Police 

Dog Association. U.P.D. is blessed with many fine employees of professional caliber. 

2012 was an unusual year for staffing issues related to military deployments, an unusual amount of used 

F.L.M.A. time, injury time off, a couple resignations and two unplanned retirements. Staffing issues caused 

us to pull one police officer from the D.E.A. Task Force and return him to patrol duty. We also rotated police 

officers from other divisions to temporarily fill patrol assignments. We closed 2012 up-tempo with three new 

officers finishing the police academy and now in field training, one officer starting the police academy and another 

receiving a conditional offer to hire upon completion of medical reviews and final background checks. 

Another highlight of 2012 includes the digital upgrade to our radio communication system. We have a collaborative 

effort with the Cities of Clive and West Des Moines known as WESTCOM Dispatch Center. The communications 

upgrade allowed us to bring the City of Norwalk into the collaboration, reducing our shared costs 

for operating WESTCOM. The new digital radio system is being installed as I write this letter. We anticipate 

the changeover to be completed early spring 2013. 

9:08 pm 

Page 2


Chief Ross McCarty 

Chief of Police 

Lt. Terry Nielsen 

Support Services 

Lt. Kent Knopf 

Criminal Investigation 

Lt. Rob Johansen 

Administrative Services 

Lieutenant—Vacant 

Patrol Division 

Sgt. Dave Disney 


Sgt. Matt Logsdon 


Sgt. Don Simpson 


Sgt. Gary Lang 


Sgt. Steve Shivers 


Sgt. Dan Stein 


Sgt. Matt Gausman 


Det. Terry Dippold 


Officer Mike Heldt 


Det. Don Vestal 


Officer Jeff Casey 


Officer George Griffith 


Officer Curt Vajgrt 


Officer Chris Greenfield 


Officer Mike Haydon 


Officer Andrew Dobbins 


Officer Rebecca Taylor 


Officer Scott Liston 


Officer Shawn Popp 


Officer Shane Taylor 


Det. Chad Underwood 


Officer Eric Wilcutt 


Det. Mark Jorgensen 


Det. Molly Jansen 


Officer Randy Peterson 


Page 3


Officer Andy Morlan 


Officer Jessica Winter 


Officer John McElwee 


Det. Matt Flattery 


Officer Jake Cameron 


Officer Brandie Weih 


Officer David Cook 


Officer Nick Gilchrist 


Officer Nick Hazel 


Officer Zac McDowell 


Officer Zach Johns 


Officer Holly Pickett 


Officer Joe Fisher 


Officer Brian Butcher 


Officer Bryce Boehm 


Officer Ben Wiele 


Officer Josh Button 


Officer Melissa Waalk 


Officer Ben Domeier 


Curtis Blake 

Probationary Officer 

ILEA 

Patrol Officer 

Vacant 

Shanda Stovie 

Admin. Specialist 

Chief’s Office 

Lisa Andrews 



Lisa Judge 



Nancy Peters 

Administrative Tech. 


Juanita Slaughter 

Administrative Tech. 


2012 Reserve Officers 

Budget Allocation 

Chief of Police: 1 

Lieutenants: 4 

Sergeants: 7 

Officers: 37 

Administrative Specialists: 3 

Administrative Technicians: 2 

Page 4


Office of Chief Of Police 

The Urbandale Police Department is tasked with numerous functions in order to accomplish its. The 

following are the primary functional responsibilities of the Office of the Chief of Police. 

Office of the Chief of Police 

Planning, Research and Development, Program Evaluation, Professional Development, Policies and 

Procedures, Rules and Regulations, Budget Administration, Payroll, Personnel Files, Form Approval and 

Maintenance, Accounts Payable, Timecard Management, Transcription of Meetings, Purchasing. 

Document creation/formatting, Mail, Petty Cash Fund, Internet Complaint/Compliment System, Alarm 

Ordinance Billing. 

Strategic Priorities 

We are committed to 

creating and 

maintaining active 

police/community 

partnerships and 

assisting citizens in 

identifying and 

solving problems to 

improve the quality 

of life in their 

neighborhoods. 

Caption describing 

picture or graphic. 

Page 5


Administrative Services Division 

The following are the primary functional responsibilities of the Administrative 

Services Division: 

Property and Evidence 

CALEA Accreditation, Emergency Management Liaison, Major Event 

Planning, Probation – Parole Liaison, Fees and Licensing Collections, 

Records Management System, Human Resources Liaison, Internship 

Program, Office of Professional Standards, Training, Field training Officer 

Program, Awards Program, Police Officers Memorial Service Coordinator 

and Property and Evidence Management. 

Training Activity 

2012 was a productive year in terms of training hours, revision of the In Service Training format, addition 

and organization of instructor positions 

and hosting of training. 

2012 TRAINING/ 2011 COMPARISON 

2000 

1500 

1000 

500 

0 

112 144 

528 520 

824 

1892 

504 

232 

ADMIN INVEST PATROL SUPPORT 

SERVICES 

2011 

2012 

Internship Activity 

With this department having over 50 

employees including civilian employees 

and all of them needing training whether 

new or updated, there were a variety of 

areas employees needed to complete 

training hours in for 2012. 

In 2012, the entire department compiled 

3060 hours of schools and training 

conferences, compared to 1696 hours in 

In 2011 there were 3 college 

students completing internships with 

our department. They completed a 

total of 450 hours of observation 

with the department. In 2012 the 6 

interns completed a total of 900 

hours of observation with the 

department. The department had 3 

more interns than in 2011. The 

number of hours each Intern spent 

each day was dependent upon their 

schedule outside of the department. 

1000 

800 

600 

400 

200 

0 

Internship Hours Completed 

900 

630 

450 

2010 2011 2012 

2010 

2011 


Page 6


Records 

Currently, Records has three (3) full time civilian employees. The Records employees continue to display 

great customer service skills, as they are the first impression of most people coming thru the front door. 

Their ability to interact and serve people is a great asset each employee in Records shows. 

Revenue collected for fees and services is becoming a large part of the activity in Records. This chart is a 

summary of the revenue collected in 2012: 

9000 

8000 

7000 

6000 

5000 

4000 

3000 

2000 

1000 

0 

0 

CALEA 

1380 

3460 

0 

485 

1245 

7450 

8300 

7980 

6705 

6440 

6380 

In 2012 the Administrative Services civilian 

employees saw a change to their official title. 

This allowed for more consistency throughout 

the city for civilian positions on the same pay 

grade. The Administrative Assistant is now 

known as the Administrative Specialist and the 

Records Clerk is now known as the Administrative 

Technician. The division has one Specialist 

and two Technicians. 

2012 was the Records sections’ third full year 

of using the paperless (LASERFISCHE) case 

management system. This step continues to be 

instrumental in helping the department reduce 

the use of paper copying and storage. It is also 

helpful in reducing the amount of postage for 

sending out hard copies of case requests, as they can be sent electronically whenever possible. 

Though this paperless (LASERFISCHE) system has eliminated the need to keep paper copies of all reports, 

there is still a lot of potential to be used with the system by other divisions. 

The Records section employees continue to display great customer service skills, as they are the first 

impression of most people coming thru the front door. Their ability to interact and serve sometimes angry, 

upset people is a great asset each employee in the Records section of Administrative Services. 

The Records section also encompasses Fees and Licensing associated with the police department. The 

department continues to take fees associated with the impoundment of dogs and cats. 

The department continued with the collection of fees associated with impoundment of vehicles, fingerprint 

cards, local record checks, report copies, video and audio recording copies, false alarm 

fees and fees for programs put on by the department. 

In 2010 the Urbandale Police Department began the three year process to obtain 

CALEA accreditation. In 2012, written directives were completed addressing all the 

CALEA standards applicable to the Urbandale Police Department. In addition to 

drafting written directives to bring the department into compliance with CALEA 

standards, documents showing proof of compliance have been built into a CALEA 

assessment software system. The files containing proofs of compliance and the 

written directives were completed in 2012 for review by a mock assessment team 

scheduled for January of 2013. Any suggestions from the mock assessment team on 

revising written directives or proofs of compliance shall be implemented prior to the 

actual on-site assessment. After the on-site assessment in July of 2013, the 

department will learn if CALEA accreditation was achieved. 

Page 7 

Animal 

2010 2011 2012 

UPD 

Programs 

Fingerprints Impounds 

6697 

4480 

6346 

Report 

Copies


Property and Evidence 

In 2012 the police department completed entry 

of all property and evidence items into a bar 

coded software database. This replaced an 

outdated paper based inventory system. 

Barcode technology will allow the department to 

quickly and accurately track property and 

evidence. The below graph reflects the number 

of items in the current property and evidence 

database. At the end of 2012, the department 

had a total of 8,604 items entered in evidence. 

This graph shows the number of items by month 

entered into property and evidence which 

totaled 3,816 in 2012. 

Some of the notable items that were entered 

into the property and evidence system by year: 

Drugs—number of entries 

2012—328 

2011—507 

Found Bicycles 

2012—39 

2011—40 

Cash 

2012—$109,951 

2011—$157,409 

This graph shows in which month the 1,542 

number of items were removed from property 

and evidence. In 2012 Johnston and Urbandale 

Police departments started to form a Property 

and Evidence Association in central Iowa. In 

November the first meeting was held in 

Urbandale with eleven agencies expressing 

interest. Current plans are to hold a meeting 

every other month and to expand our 

membership to all of central Iowa. 

Current agencies involved: 

Altoona PD 

West Des Moines PD 

Ankeny PD 

Windsor Heights PD 

Clive PD 

Waukee PD 

Johnston PD 

Urbandale PD 

Pleasant Hill PD 

Polk County Sheriff 

Polk County Investigators 

Page 8


Criminal Investigation Division 

It is the responsibility of the Criminal Investigation to thoroughly investigate all unsolved cases reported 

to the police department and thoroughly process and investigate all crime scenes where it is believed 

that evidence pertaining to the crime can be obtained. 

Due to that mission there was always a Detective and CSI person on call 24 hours a day and 366 days 

a week in 2012. 

Equipment Upgrade 

In 2012 the computer forensic equipment was upgraded. This will allow the forensics software program 

to run much faster so evidence can be retrieved quicker. In 2012 two cases were indicted federally 

based on the evidence found by the computer forensic search. A Cellebrite system was purchased that 

will allow cell phone forensic information to be recovered similar to the computers. Also the mobile 

GPS unit was upgraded. The GPS system works more efficient with the upgrade that was completed. 

During 2012 CSI unit 

processed a total of 68 

cases. This was lower 

than the 90 cases in 

2011. This includes 

both crime scenes and 

evidence processing 

Due to the nature of investigative work we continue to collaborate with numerous organizations to 

help solve cases. Below are some organizations: 

Fraud and Forgery Task Force 

Bankers Peer Group 

Metro Intelligence Meetings 

FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force 

Mid States Organized Crime Information Center 

Law Enforcement Intelligence Network 

Retail Theft Meeting 

M.I.N.E. 

Page 9


CID Summary of Yearly Activities 

1,628 cases were assigned to CID for investigation. Below is a graph comparing the cases from 2011 to 

2012 showing the different case status totals. 

1,628 cases were 

assigned to CID for 

Investigation in 2012. 

This graph shows the 2011 and 2012 Burglary totals. Residential burglaries are separated in a 

separate column. As you can see Commercial Burglaries have dropped significantly and residential 

ones slightly. 

In 2012 1200 victims’ 

rights information 

packets were 

distributed explaining 

what rights victims 

have. 

Page 10


Mid Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Drug Task Force 

MINE was formulated in July of 2002 as an effort by law enforcement to 

consolidate efforts in the fight against illegal drugs. Through a 

memorandum of understanding between member agencies the MINE Task 

Force continues with this mission today. 

2011/12 MINE Annual Statistics Comparison 

In October 2012, the 

FBI and MINE Task 

Force conducted a 

Human Trafficking 

project in Johnston, IA. 

This project was a two 

day event that resulted 

in 53 adult arrests. 

This project was staffed 

by 93 law enforcement 

officers from several 

different agencies 

throughout Iowa. 

The Human Trafficking 

project was a good 

example of cooperation 

between Federal, State, 

and Local law 

enforcement agencies. 

Annual Statistics 2011 2012 Difference % +/- 

Search Warrants 561 577 +2.7% 

Cases Opened 542 594 +8.8% 

Lead Sheets 389 280 -28% 

Drug Endangered Children 22 40 +45% 

Total Arrests 467 486 +3.9% 

Felony Charges 912 775 -15% 

Misdemeanor Charges 374 403 +7.1% 

Forfeiture-US Currency $435,388.00 $559,275.00 +22.1% 

Forfeiture-Vehicles 58 65 +10.7% 

Firearms Seized 86 54 -37.2% 

Cocaine 51 grams 73 grams +30.1% 

Crack Cocaine 110 grams 13 grams -88.1% 

Marijuana (Processed) 114,420 grams 321,715 grams +64.4% 

Marijuana (Plants) 366 plants 720 plants +49.1% 

Methamphetamine 14,588 grams 10,237 grams -29.8% 

LSD 71 dosage units 101 dosage units +29.7% 

Ecstasy 90 dosage units 98 dosage units +8.1% 

Pseudoephedrine 33,700 grams 2405 grams -92.8% 

Pharmaceutical Pills 2130 dosage units 1147 dosage units -46.1% 

Psilocybin Mushrooms 130 grams 84 grams -35.3% 

Meth Labs 22 9 -59% 

Meth Lab Dump Sites 19 9 -52.6% 

K-2 5986 grams 2870 grams -52% 

Hashish 0 806 grams +100% 

Heroin 0 17 grams +100% 

Page 11



During 2012 the Patrol Division continued to suffer from 

manpower shortages. There were two Military deployments 

from March until November, 3 FMLA leaves for new additions 

to Officer’s families, and some injuries that affected manpower. 

However the Officers that did serve during 2012 continued to 

perform above standards and completed a lot if activities to 

fulfill the departments objectives. 

Patrol Activity 

Years 2011 2012 

Reports Taken 3067 3038 

Adult Arrests 716 608 

Juvenile Arrests 158 167 

OWI Arrests 102 86 

Accidents 761 756 

Total Citaons 3,451 2,795 

Warnings 1,676 1,402 

There were 22,680 

calls for service in 

2012. This chart 

details the day those 

took place. Fridays 

are the busiest and 

2nd Watch had the 

most calls. 

Shift Hours: 

1st Watch: 6:30-3:30pm 

2nd Watch: 2:30pm-11:30pm 

3rd Watch: 10:30pm-7:30am 

This chart is a 

breakdown of the 

crash reports for 

2011/2012. 

Page 12


Special Units 

Within the patrol division there are special units that help provide the service we would like to provide. 

Except for the reserve unit, most of these special units are compiled from officers with in patrol, thus no 

extra officers are supplied to fulfill these extra duties. 

K-9 Program 

The mission of the Urbandale Police Department K-9 unit is to advance the 

mission of the Department through the use of the K-9’s specialties to enhance 

the safety and quality of life for the residents of Urbandale. The Urbandale 

Police K9 Unit was established in 2009. 

The Urbandale Police 

K-9 was deployed 107 

times in 2012. 

This graph represents 

the various types of 

deployments that the 

K9 was used for. 

Clearly the use of the 

K9 for narcotic 

detection is the most 

requested and 

performed function of 

the K9. 

NARCOTIC AND CASH SEIZURES 

Narcotic Cash Value Weight 

Adderall $3000.00 150 TAB(S) 

Amphetamine Salt $20.00 4 TAB(S) 

Pills 

Bath Salts $520.00 26 ITEM(S) 

Cash $56093.00 

Cocaine $25500.00 762 GM(S) 

Crack Cocaine $1370.00 13.7 GM(S) 

Ecstasy $650.00 10 GM(S) 

Hash/Marijuana Oil $2000.00 

Hashish $150.00 29 GM(S) 

Hydrocodone $5000.00 100 TAB(S) 

K2 Synthetic Marijuana 

$1200.00 60 ITEM(S) 

Lsd $500.00 6 GM(S) 

Marijuana $775900.00 170.22LBS 

Methamphetamine $50000.00 910 GM(s) 

Page 13


Alcohol and Tobacco Compliance 

In 2012, 23 retail 

establishments were 

checked and only one 

sold tobacco to the 

underage CI. This 

resulted in a 95.6% 

compliance rate 

In 2012, 13 retail 

establishments were 

checked and 5 sold 

alcohol to the 

underage CI. This 

resulted in a 62% 

compliance rate. 

Radar Speed Trailer 

The radar speed trailer program continues to address 

communities concerns regarding speed. The number one 

variable from year to year is going to be the location the 

trailers are deployed. The majority of the deployments are 

based on complaints by citizens. Some deployments are in 

residential neighborhoods where the volume of traffic is lower 

verses deployments on main through fares where the volume 

of traffic is heavy. 

The Departments two radar speed trailers were 

deployed throughout the city 57 times in 2012. 

In 2011, the trailers were deployed 46 times. 

The Departments two radar speed trailers 

logged 254,875 vehicles in 2012. In 2011, the 

trailers logged 255,309. 

Page 14


Bike Patrol Program 

The bike patrol unit continues to support the Departments Community 

Oriented Policing mission by being involved in the July 4 th activities, the 

Charles Gabus Memorial Bike Ride, neighborhood block parties, National 

Night Out and many other community activities. 

In 2012, 132 bike patrol shifts were assigned. 

This is compared to 112 in 2011. 

135 

130 

125 

120 

115 

110 

105 

100 

Assigned Bike Patrol Shifts 

2011 


250 

200 

150 

100 

50 

0 

Bicycle Licenses Issued 

2009 

2010 

2011 


In 2012, 73 bicycle licenses were issued. 

This is compared to 165 in 2011 and 181 in 2010. 

Reserve Officers Program 

The Urbandale Police Reserve Unit was started in 1968. There are twenty 

positions allocated for Reserve Officers to compliment the Urbandale Police 

Department. The allocation number was approved by the City Council. In 

2012 there were nine Reserve Officers, four Reserve Officers in training and 

one Administrative Assistant (a retired Reserve Officer) in the Reserve Unit. 

This category chart below depicts the hours and percentages in the 

different categories where Reserve Officers spent their time working. 

94.25, 6% 

One of the main 

components of the 

Reserve Program is to 

compliment staffing of 

uniformed officers. The 

Patrol Division depend on 

the Reserve Officers to fill 

the gap when short notice 

manpower is needed. 

240.75, 15% 

117.75, 7% 

83.5, 5% 

74, 5% 

651, 41% 

Patrol Voluntary 

Patrol assigned 

Administrative 

other 

Meeting 

Training 

Community Relations 

331.5, 21% 

Page 15


Support Service Division 

Support Service’s primary functional responsibilities are: 

D.A.R.E. Program, School Resource Officer Program, School Crossing Guard Program, Community 

Relations, Press Information Office, Animal Control, Police Chaplain Program, Police Matrons, Police 

Department Tours, Fleet Management, Language Interpreters, Building Maintenance, Holding Facility 

Management, Fleet Management, Uniform and Equipment Administration, Department Inventory and Grant 

Management. 

Controlled Deer Bow Hunt Program 

The Controlled Deer Bow Hunt Program continues to be 

a effective process to control the deer population in 

Urbandale. 

The map to the left shows the 2012- 

2013 Controlled Bow Hunt Harvest. 

Red = Non-Antlered 

Blue = Buck 

National Night Out 

Participation in National Night Out has continued 

to grow from 500 Four years ago to over 2000 in 

2012. The Police Department has received 

national recognition for our program the past 

three years, going from 48 th place to 25 th place 

for cities our size. We also received recognition 

for our FACEBOOK and TWITTER contacts. 

Citizen’s Police Academy 

Urbandale Police Department started the 

Citizen’s Police Academy in 2010 and the class 

sizes have continued to grow each year. The 

early classes have started a CPA Alumni 

program and continue to be active in National 

Night Out, Police Memorial Service and other 

programs within the department. 

Page 16


Police Honor Guard 

We added three additional officers to the 

program this year. They continue to perform in a 

professional state by representing the department 

in the Police Memorial Service, Veteran’s 

Day Service and other formal programs. 

D.A.R.E. 

The D.A.R.E. program has been around since 

1986. The curriculum was updated this year. 

The program continues to be important in Drug 

Resistance for our youth. 

Flag Raising 

Ceremony at 

the Police 

Department 

MAC Camp 

Police Officers have been involved in the 

program since its institution three years ago. The 

program has grown to two schools now serving 

approximately 80 students. The program 

designed to build on educational and cultural 

skills for students. 

The police Department 

conducted over 25 

tours of the police 

facility in 2012. 

Safety City 

Safety City is designed for first time Kindergarten 

students as a learning tool to safely get to 

school and home again. They also are taught 

Stranger-Danger, latchkey, and other safety 

measures around the home. 

Page 17


School Resource Officer 

SRO Cases 2012 

Officer Vajgrt has been the SRO for the past 

five years. He continues to build a relationship 

between the school administration, students 

and the police department through being a 

guest speaker at classes and presentations, 

to coordinating student ride-a-long programs. 

Officer Vajgrt also investigation criminal cases 

at the high school and assists administration 

with discipline issues. 

This chart is a breakdown of arrests. 

15 UHS Students were 

arrested in 2012. 14 

students were under 

the age of 18 years 

(juveniles), and 1 

student was 18 years 

(adult). 

WESTPET 

Animal Control continues to be a priority of the police department. In 2011 Urbandale 

joined with Clive and West Des Moines in a joint effort for animal control. The effort is 

to include licensing of pets be also a more 

efficient and economical way housing and 

educating citizens on controlling their 

pets. We will be working in replacing the 

present facility to a more modern, time 

saving efficient facility. 

Page 18


Use of Force 

In 2012, officers used force to control situations during twelve (12) incidents. This was down slightly from 

2011 in which force was used on fourteen (14) occasions. The Patrol Division continues to be involved in 

the vast majority of the cases (9) compared to other assignments. Of the nine (9) use of force incidents on 

patrol, three (3) occurred on days (1 st shift), two (2) occurred on afternoons (2 nd shift) and four (4) occurred 

on nights (3 rd watch). 3 rd watch saw a decrease in incidents from seven (7) in 2011 to four (4) in 2012 while 

1 st watch reported no incidents in 2011 and three (3) in 2012. 

Influences 

Influences: The possible influences 

on the behavior of persons subjected 

to use of force incidents remained 

stable. Alcohol continues to be a 

strong indicator but was down slightly 

from 2011 to 2012. Mental illness 

was cited four (4) times as a factor in 

2012 but always in combination with 

either drugs or alcohol. Subjects not 

under the influence of drugs, alcohol, 

or mental illness only required a use 

of force in two (2) incidents. This was 

the same as in 2011. 

Type of Force Used 

Type of Force Used: Officers 

used physical force in eight (8) 

incidents, an electronic control 

device in two (2) incidents, 

pepper spray in one (1) incident, 

and pointing of a firearm in one 

(1) incident (pointing of a firearm 

at a subject is currently reported 

as a use of force based on 

officer discretion). The type of 

force used by officers has 

remained consistent since statistics 

were compiled in 2010. 

Physical force continues to be 

used to address most incidents. 

Page 19


Internal Affairs 

In July of 2010 the department implemented a new complaint policy to comply with CALEA accreditation 

requirements and standardize the complaint procedure. This has resulted in a much more systematic 

approach to accept and investigate complaints. 2012 was the second full year of since implementation of the 

new procedures. The Department had total of 32 complaints filed in 2012 which was down slightly from 2011. 

Below is a comparison of 2011 and 2012 complaints. 

Complaint Disposition Summary: 

After receiving a complaint and investigating the accusations, a disposition is determined by a preponderance 

of the evidence. Overall, complaint dispositions remained very stable from 2011 to 2012. Below is a summary 

of the complaint dispositions: 

Page 20


Personnel Recognition Program 

The Urbandale Police Department has excellent employees that continue to strive in providing our 

community with the best of public safety service. The nature of public safety work requires a conviction to 

the profession that goes beyond what we can return to the employees through salary alone. Our personnel 

deliver excellent service under some of the most stressful life circumstances. We annually recognize those 

employees that responded to those circumstances with the highest of professional standards and have 

reached service milestones with the police department. 

2012 Awards Committee Members: 

Lt. Rob Johansen, Lt. Kent Knopf, Lt. Terry Nielsen, Sgt. Don Simpson, Officer Mike Heldt, Officer Brian 

Butcher and Shanda Stovie. 

The Awards Program was placed into service by Chief McCarty in 2009. The program was formalized with 

the creation of the Police Awards Committee in 2010. The committee plans, organizes and provides 

recognition of the performance officers and civilian employees display in extraordinary circumstances. The 

committee meets regularly to discuss those officers, civilian employees, and citizens that have acted under 

commendable circumstances, above and beyond their daily responsibilities and those reaching service 

milestones. 

2012 Urbandale Police Urbandale Award Recipients 

Employees 

of the Year: 

Police Officer 

Randy Peterson 

Reserve Officer 

Thomas Frakes 

Administrative Specialist 

Lisa Andrews 

Congratulations 

to all the 2012 

Urbandale 

Police 

Department 

Award 

Recipients! 

SERVICE BAR AWARDS: 

Admin Services Bar 

Officer George Griffith 

Investigations Bar 

Officer Don Vestal 

Patrol Bar 

Officer Bryce Boehm Officer Ben Wiele 

Honor Guard Bar 

Officer Brandie Weih Officer Nick Hazel 

Officer Joe Fisher 

Instructor Bar 

Officer George Griffith Officer Eric Wilcutt 

Officer Randy Peterson Officer Andy Morlan 

Officer Nick Hazel Officer Jake Cameron 

Officer Jeff Casey 

SERT Bar 

Officer Nick Hazel 

Specialist Bar 

Officer Zach McDowell Officer Zach Johns 

MEDAL RECIPIENTS: 

Life Saving Award 

Officer Holly Pickett Officer Bryce Boehm 

YEARS OF SERVICE AWARD & BARS: 

20 Years 

Lieutenant Kent Knopf 

15 Years 

Lieutenant Matt Logsdon Sergeant Gary Lang 

10 Years 

Officer Mike Haydon Officer Andy Dobbins 

Officer Rebecca Taylor Officer Kip Liston 

Officer Shawn Popp Officer Shane Taylor 

5 Years 

Officer Jake Cameron 

Officer Brandie Weih 

Page 21



3740 86th Street 

Urbandale, Iowa 50322 

Phone: 515-278-3938 

Fax: 515-331-6810 

E-mail: police@urbandale.org 

Website: www.urbandale.org 

“Service Built on Integrity” 

The public’s confidence in the Police Department is a major part of our 

police motto “Service Built on Integrity”. We have reached out to the 

public through several programs to include the MAC Camp, National 

Night Out, Whizz Kids, Senior Driving Car Fit, SARA Projects, 

Crime-Free Multi-Housing Projects, Crime-Free Hotel-Motel Program 

and actively participating in the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce. 

Other programs such Community Crime Eye, Reserve Officer Program, 

Police memorial Service, Child Safety seat Program, Neighborhood 

Block Parties, R.A.D., Safety City and Junior Detectives have all help to 

build community police relations. 

2012 Accomplishments 

2013 Goals 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Improved employee technical ability to extract 

vital information from the Records Management 

System. 

U.P.D. finished our FY2011-12 budget year under 

the projected budget estimates. 

Evidence Property Management completely converted 

to a new inventory management system. 

Animal Control Services improved through a 

licensing renewal program and service delivery 

by trained humane officers. 

Criminal Investigation Division maintained clearance 

of reported cases above national average. 

Geothermal heating and cooling system was 

installed for the police facility. 

K-9 team receives Midwest recognition for case 

of the year. 

U.P.D. Officer honored as Iowa Crime Prevention 

Officer of the Year. 

U.P.D. hosted the 4th Annual Open Records 

Symposium. 

U.P.D received 3rd consecutive national award 

for National Night Out Program. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Complete the conversion from analog radio 

to the P25 compliant (digital) radio system 

by spring of 2013. 

Achieve U.P.D.’s full accreditation from 

C.A.L.E.A. 

Improve and revise the training assignments 

to meet career development and 

operational needs of the department’s employees. 

Emphasis on safety practices through policy, 

incident review and analysis of incidents 

to improve safety. 

Achieve a 4th consecutive National Night 

Out Award. 

U.P.D. will host the 5th Annual Open Records 

Symposium.

2012 Annual Report - City of Urbandale

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