Commander John Sloter and Sgt. Ryan Palmer, Boone Police Department, February 12, 2026

Today on our program we are joined by Sergeant Ryan Palmer with the Boone Police Department. Good morning. Good to be here. You brought company, you have Commander John Scolder with you. I did. Good morning.

Well, here we are, we've got, well our normal things we talk about, again, public safety at Boone and things like that. I was gonna say, one of the things I actually saw this week, actually, it's showing up again, seems to show up all the time. You had like three scam reports.

Yeah, we're always having scams. When I see that report, I'm going either somebody got a scam and they want everybody to know so they call you and say, you know, this is going on. Or more than likely they fell for something. Yeah. And it's something that never seems to go away.

I think we talk about scams about every time I'm on here. And we give some of the same advice. Just be aware of what's going on.

If people are asking for money, if they're sending you an invitation to cash a check for them and then you go buy Apple gift cards or such and such gift cards, that's not a common thing that happens.

A lot of times the banks do a good job and they have people coming in saying, hey, I need to withdraw $5,000, $10,000. A lot of times the banks are doing a good job saying, no, you might want to go check with law enforcement first.

So if you have parents who you've never had these conversations with, talk to them about scams. Because if I'm going to be honest, a lot of people who are being scammed are probably probably older. What do you say, 70 or above? Yes. And they try to get you fast.

They call it talk fast and they kind of throw. So I got this one, which sometimes I like to play with them. Because, and so she's talking real fast and doing this and I'm going, no, goodbye. And just let her go because you just know it is. Yeah. Keep talking with your parents.

If you think something seems odd, come talk to us. Come stop in, call us, whatever it is. We'll be happy to look at paperwork. We'll be happy to have conversation with you. Just helping keep each other safe in that way.

Yes, and if they're asking for gift cards or Bitcoins, that is almost 100% red flag. It's a scam. It's a scam. Yeah. And we do have, well, this is the time of the year. You'll have people doing some tax things.

No personal information, otherwise they start going after your identity. Correct, and the IRS scams, they'll be coming up. So if you get something from the IRS, they never text, they never send emails, it's always by mail. So yes, always buy snail mail.

You United States postal service. But those scams will be coming. They're not going to get a warrant for your arrest. They're not going to put you in jail if you don't pay. It has to come by mail and you will always get called in first. And yeah, it's not, yeah.

So again, there's some that just show up every year, don't they? Yes, absolutely. Well, we'll keep working on it. All you can do is remind them, but yeah, I know the one thing now you mentioned more, it's more for those that might have elderly parents. Yes.

Because now elderly parents, they've got their cell phones, they've got things like that, and they stay connected with their families, but they can get targeted very easily. And also with this technology, help remind people, don't allow others to have access.

So if somebody's calling and saying, hey, give me the passwords to get on your phone, I'll help you do this kind of thing, I'll help you look at your accounts, unless it's a legit bank or something.

If it's, a lot of people fall victim to giving these out, and then these scammers get access to all of their personal information, they crash their computers, there's nothing we can do about it.

So don't, remind your parents, don't give access to anybody to get on your technology devices. So yeah, and again, if it's something that shows up like that, just stop and call somebody for help. Yeah.

Yes, I mean, if it has something to do with the bank, call the bank immediately. Well, most banks are, they're not, you would have generated some sort of contact with them for them to respond to you. I get different things for credit cards, and stuff like that all the time.

Now I have the warning that goes up here, possible fraud. Yeah. Yes. So yeah, get rid of it. Yeah. Anyway, that's one of the things.

One of the others we got to talk about, we did talk about it, we tired it, it seemed like two months ago, we actually first brought it up, but Citizens Police Academy is coming up. Yeah, we're getting close. Very close, and deadline for applications is gonna be Friday the 20th.

Yes. So folks, if you're interested, I know you've gotten a bunch of applications already. A lot of people that have attended are really excited about an opportunity for others to take part. Yeah, and it's such a great opportunity.

It's a huge undertaking, but it's so good to develop those relationships with the community, where we get to invite them in. They get to see different aspects of what we do. A lot of doubt in law enforcement has just stemmed from misunderstandings of how and why we do things.

So bringing some community members in to see the ins and outs of why we do things, how we do it, really clears up a lot of pictures and creates some transparency there that really is helpful. Absolutely.

So it's a great opportunity for all of us to build some relationships and learn from each other. It is not, we call it the Citizens Police Academy, it's not training-like, but it's more of an opportunity to see what is done, how you handle everything.

Yes, and it's not just a boom police problem, it's a lot of personnel teaching. County Attorney's Office comes in, Sheriff's Office comes in, various people.

So it's really a criminal justice-oriented, dispatchers come in, and then of course, there's a ride-along, which most people enjoy, and you never know what you're gonna see when you ride along. That's right. There's a lot of things that, or some things you might not wanna see.

True. But again, those are, it's just a variety of different things. Really, the only commitment you're asking from people is to really commit some of their time to spend about three hours, which I think goes fairly fast, once they get into doing it.

But three hours on a Thursday evening, starting on March 5th through the end of April. Yeah, right. You get a meal in there, a lot of hands-on experience, it's a good time. And you can ask questions. Yeah. Yeah, so we strongly encourage that.

Any misconceptions that we can clear up, that's what questions are for. Come in, learn, and we'll go from there. Hopefully get a better. So I know that it says, go to the city's website, the application's there. You might have them at the office.

I don't know if they're there or not, but get it done. If you haven't done one already, done an application, and you're interested in trying this, again, all they're asking for is your time commitment. Yes. Just every Thursday evening for three hours, and yeah, meal included.

So we'll have, again, that's, I know everybody that goes through it, once they get done with it, they go, that was just great, because they learn a lot of things. And then you recruit them to help. Yeah, with parades and different things. So that's good.

Speaking of parades and things, so we know Ragbrize coming. Yes. You've been here long enough, Commander, that it takes a lot of people to help with that. Even, Jeff, if it's just pass-through, but here, we're talking in overnight. Yes, overnight.

So we will certainly be stretched to the limit, but we will be getting assistance from outside agencies to come in, help us out.

And it'll be, it's such a wonderful time for the city to showcase itself, because hopefully these people come in and not only just ride their bikes, see the town, but maybe plan a vacation, ride the train.

I mean, it's a great time to showcase the city of Boone, but it does take a lot of work, a lot of planning. A lot of work, and we know they're just really getting started with that.

Again, for you guys, it's, you know it's coming, so you know you're gonna be having some assistance coming in. Yes. But it'll just be, once they figure where everything's gonna be located, you'll have to work. And a lot of that goes through the chief. Absolutely. So, yeah.

And I'm very thankful for that. If it's not him, it's you. Right. But you take a look at, again, here's gonna be our entertainment area and stuff like that. How are we having it? Who's camping where? Things like that.

Yeah, I think the last time we had an overnight, the entertainment was on South Story Street. Don't know if it's gonna be the same way or not, it's different every time. So we'll see what's set up and how it all works. Right. Thankfully, this isn't the first overnight we've had.

So some of those plans can overlap a little bit. There will be some changes, but like you've said, it'll be a good time. We're looking forward to it. Just everybody, be careful. And by the way, we're getting to it. Wow.

If we keep getting warm weather like that, it might be sooner. However, I did remember, we looked it up last. Last year, we had seven inches of snow in February and eight in March. So might not be done yet, but bike riders, I've seen more mopeds out.

I see, you know, so we got two wheel vehicles out there on the road. So pay attention. Yes, please. So please, that's just one thing that keeps happening too. I was going to ask too, because I know you handle traffic, logistics with working with the DOT and everything.

And the thing is, say patrol will be like on ride ride, they are heavily involved with this. And they are also going to be heavily involved with the farm progress show. This is another farm progress show here.

So now our little part that we got to pay attention to is we've got serious construction that's going to be going on down there on Corporal Sneddon Drive and Hancock. Yes. That intersection will end up with a traffic signal. Absolutely.

And during the farm progress show, we strongly encourage people to find alternate routes. If they can avoid airport road and highway 30. Going out on old 30. Yes. Man, avoid that for those three days, if at all possible. Do the four-way stop where people are at least being safer.

22nd all the way over to Ames, great route. But yeah, that's a busy, busy time of the year. The overpass, the new overpass there east of town has really helped immensely. So yeah, with that new construction, yeah. That'll be going on.

No, we're not even talking about the roundabouts. That's a whole other year or so. So, but this is the extension of Hancock Drive and that's gonna mean widening of Sneddon Drive, turning lanes in their traffic signals. So it's gonna take a while.

I don't know if they're gonna be done in time for school, but we'll see. They moved along pretty quick so far. And you're gonna have another big in-town one. That's gonna be, that'll be First Street. Yeah. It's gonna be going on. And I don't know much about that one yet. Nope.

Well, we're waiting for the bid. Well, yeah. But that'll be one again. That's gonna be the, they'll let everything down, overlay a lot of work on intersections around there. It'll be nice to get that one done. You guys have to drive. Yeah.

The city, people keep saying, we need to have all these streets repaired. You guys drive on them all the time. Which one's really neat to be worked on. So there's plenty of them out there. What are some other things that we have? Tobacco compliance. A lot of people don't.

And we've never talked about that before. But tobacco compliance is something that we do. We go into some of the different businesses that sell tobacco. We run some people through there, some underage people to see if the business will actually sell to them.

And a lot of businesses do a really good job on getting IDs from these minors that we're bringing in there with us. It's all supervised. But it's just a check that we do to make sure people are abiding by the state laws on tobacco sales.

And I do say a lot of businesses are doing a great job. But if you're a business owner, keep encouraging your employees to check those IDs. It can be easy to just look at somebody and say, oh yeah, you're over the set age. But check your IDs. Because we are watching for that.

And it's a hefty fine if you get caught selling to a minor tobacco. So keep watching for that if you're a business owner. So those are some of the things that basically it's part of what you do. And I know you do checks at several establishments late at night.

So several of our bars. You go in and check on those and make sure. And that's pretty common. I see that showing up compliance checks fairly regular. Not just for you guys, but the county does them. Other communities too. So we got the, gotta keep doing that too.

Let's see, some others, besides compliance checks. What others? The downtown parking. Oh, that's it. I knew there was something else that had come up recently. Yes. Again, it's a little different.

I know that some of the businesses have, once again, brought up issues about some of the parking. And what are we gonna be doing? Because you can't, it's a little different. Some of the laws have changed. So what do we do? And what are we just gonna be monitoring?

I know we've got other parts of the community. It's not light for snow removal. Right. Which we're hoping we don't have to do anymore this year. But I'm just saying, be ready folks. But the downtown, so we've got people that use our lots.

And I think one of the complaints I'd heard is some people just use those lots and they're in there all the time. Yeah.

Yeah, and so we're going through those lots, especially at night during the day, making sure some of those cars aren't parked there for extended durations of time, or extended days, I should say. So we're going through trying to monitor those things.

We're watching the best that we can, some of the story street parking, things like that. Trying to make sure we're getting cars in and out.

But those 24 hours lots, if you're going to be at a business an extended period of time, half the day or whatnot, try choosing one of those 24 hour lots so parking can be more readily available to people who are just dropping into your store, into some of the other stores just for a few minutes.

A lot of people are complaining about 24 hour lots being full. So part of what we're doing is trying to go through and regulate who's just parking cars there to park cars and who's using those the way they should be.

So some of the challenges, we do have people that reside lived out. Yes. And we kind of push them or direct them towards those 24 hour lots. Of which there's only, what? Two in town? There's not many. There's not a lot. No, the lot north of here. Is a 24 hour lot.

And I think the one right next to us is too. I believe so. And that might be it. The other one's either two hour or four hour. I'd have to check the code to be sure, but they can be chalked anytime and then ticketed. So, yeah. And after so long towed, I'm guessing that happens.

Absolutely. I mean, we're getting ready to tow one out of a certain lot. If it wasn't towed yesterday, it'll go today because it's been there for weeks. It's been there a long time. You get a lot of it. Yeah.

And again, part of it is because we have different officers throughout the day and then at night. So again, it's a matter of just paying attention to where they're at, I'm guessing. And you have to make it a point to go down through there. Right, right.

Which we certainly encourage our officers to do. The other thing we would certainly encourage would be for the businessmen, perhaps not to park in front of their stores, that choose a lot where they could park. Obviously they want customers coming into their stores.

Leave those spaces free. Because if they're parked in front of the store for the entire time they're at their store, they certainly might get a ticket as well. So we don't want to see that happen. Yeah. So again, do we have time?

On story, even with the new diagonal parking and the additional places there, there is a timeframe on how long they should. I believe it's two hours. Two hours. This seemed like they've been there a long time. Well, we want people to come in, shop, enjoy our stores downtown.

But then it's, move along so someone else can come in and do the same thing. I know, went to community theater. The production was like over two hours long. But again, we were there and then by the time we left, I think we made it okay.

But those are, again, some of the challenges. We'll have some of that going on. Or people come up for the theater at night and go to the movie. Again, sometimes it gets out there to that, be around that two hour time frame.

But there's usually an, people have an opportunity to be able. Correct, and the times we're typically talking about are eight in the morning, five in the afternoon. Those are the times where we really pay attention. Watch, yes.

Okay, so again, if you don't have to be stuck in a lot, or move occasionally, please. That's a big thing. Yes. I used to watch it when they would chalk them, and people would go out and move their car around the block. Yep. Doing something, at least trying to make it move.

Again, and again, complaint driven. I just want to say that the police department is just out to do this. Because you actually, you've received complaints.

It came to the city council, public safety committee, and that was the suggestion was to try to step up some of that enforcement. Correct. Again, folks, we don't make this up on earth. It's right there. Plenty of things to do. Scam time, once again.

If it sounds too good, probably. And those that have elderly parents, please pay attention. Yeah, and talk to them. Have those conversations. Make sure, and again, if you're interested in the Citizens Police Academy, we have an excellent opportunity for you still to sign up.

I have it right here. It says the application can be found at boondove.com, and you can send it in to the chief. Yeah. And John, we both, Jay, we both. City dot Boone, yeah. Oh, that's the old one. At Boone, I would dot gov. There you go. Boone, I would not go. There we go.

Or stop down to the office. Yes. Thanks so much for coming in and getting us updated on everything. You're gonna have a busy summer. Yes, we've got a lot of things that'll be going on. Until next time, thanks for coming in. Thank you. Thank you.