Commander John Sloter, Boone Police Department, Public Safety, June 11, 2026

and I promised you today that we would take some time visit with commander John Slaughter of the boom police department good to have you here thank you good to be here made a return for us indeed normally he comes in like when we're getting ready for traffic for the farm progress show which I'm guessing you're probably already starting to scratch the surface oh very much so yeah we've already had one main meeting talking to a foath engineering getting the signs and everything all set and hopefully just mentioning this briefly get word out there so people understand it's coming like it or not it's gonna be here and we'll follow that one up right at the next week it's all gonna be Supernationals too that's right so yeah yeah yeah if you thought just handling Raghbri coming through town was one thing yeah we've got stand by we got more so Raghbri I know the chief last time he came in and visited with us we talked at that time about some of the Raghbri route and the one thing he said is you know we've got the route we've got it laid out we'll try to be convenient try to get people in and out early before we have to really shut down a lot of streets and you get a lot of riders coming in right they'll be coming in on on old Highway 30 or maybe Eisenhower correct yeah and that will be thousands of bicycles so be ready yes and the idea is to divert them to south story or go to story and then to make them turn south story we know bike riders though we've seen we've seen them come through before they don't necessarily all stay on the route and no you do have a lot of people that are gonna have hosting and and so they're gonna divert from the route and go to where they people where they're gonna stay things like that and you know once they get into Boone they're gonna want to explore Boone and there's so much to do a Boone's a wonderful community you know so much to do with the shops downtown but then you might have some who have looked up the rail explorers the historical society they're just gonna be there's a lot to do it's a very nice town just going down to ledges how wonderful yeah so we've got you know well we'll see if they go ride that hill down and back or not to never know us will do that but I don't know reg bri writers might might want to tackle that after coming up the hill yeah they the things that and some of the things safety wise for you guys I know you talked about you do have a number of people that are gonna be volunteering not every crossing will be manned correct but hopefully it's gonna be a short inconvenience right we are gonna have barricades up I'm gonna be one of the ones on Story Street just essentially patrolling up and down make sure barricades are in place I know we in the past we have had some impatient motorists yeah well taking out the barricades on occasion and the bicyclists as you well know are only supposed to be to abreast legally when you're talking thousands of bicycles they're taking up the whole road that's why it needs to be closed down so they take up the whole space just it is it's one of the challenges that you have when they can't through absolutely that so I know you've got a number of people that are gonna be working you got a couple of additional officers that will be coming in at least a couple of deputies but people need to remember the sheriff's department's got on to deal with and then all of the road from Perry on up yes that's exactly right no the state patrol helps with only so much correct you know when his bike riders come through they'll the ones that started early in the morning they're kind of going for speed they want to see how quickly they can get to Boone but there are many many others who like to stop at the small towns spend some money at their favorite watering holes and they're looking for pie well my wife can supply pie but so I mean that the bicyclists don't all come in at one time then we can open the road they it's going to be a steady stream throughout most of the day so especially look for different crossings in your neighborhood if you need to get back and forth and I know that some people will just try to avoid it all probably a better bet would be to go and volunteer to help somewhere hey terrific and then yes we could use yes I know you had some of your people from the citizens police academy are going to help man some of the intersections absolutely and if anyone else would like to volunteer we certainly could always use more so but there will be certain areas that we do have manned they're major crossings division Street comes to mind Green Street certainly comes to mind I would strongly encourage people though if you can do your shopping the day before and stay home or find an alternate route if you work in Ames maybe take 22nd Street Ames to work there your alternate routes would be beneficial and you're going to need that especially again even the next day when they leave town then they're going to be headed out on Hancock yeah out on Hancock and then north on snedden and then right out towards 17 so again so again again plan plan accordingly folks yeah so if you live you know south of Hancock get to highway 30 if you don't want to cross Hancock and you live north of Hancock 22nd Street be a great way to go there we go now one of the things this brings up the topic again with because people that some people ask oh yeah we want to know inquiring minds one of that's right does reg bri allow electric bikes oh yes they do absolutely so they are going to be coming in and some well that's going to be one of our topics we see a lot of electric bikes out here now and electric again those what kinds of challenges are they creating for the department well electric bikes they they are regulated here in Iowa and the kind of challenges that that they bring for us is the same challenge that a regular bicycle would they need to learn to obey the rules of the road just because you're a bicycle you still have to stop at stop signs you know supposed to use your hand signals and turn signal stop signs of the are the big one though yeah yes you got to follow traffic laws it's as simple as that absolutely and you only supposed to ride to a breast I know that's not going to apply to reg bri they're just no way to yeah but only to a breast if so there's more than two people in your party two and two and as far right as possible on the roadway okay stop and yield and watch even though you might say I was at this particular intersection I'm the bicycle on the right therefore I get to go that might all be true and yet you're the one without any protection around you so a lot littler than whatever is coming even if it is an electric bike that's exactly right and please wear your helmets electric bike or not please wear a helmet see a lot of that now I did want to ask you because there are different kinds of electric bikes so I'm going to have you talk a little bit about that because there are some that require licensing that's right yeah so electric bikes in Iowa are all rated to be 750 watts or less so and then there's actually three classes and that that sticker has to be on the bike so if it's not present that's a problem yeah so make sure that don't don't scrape it off okay so leave those stickers on there so 750 watts or less and up to the first two classes go up to 20 miles an hour okay do not need a driver's license for that so the first one anybody could get anybody could get one the first one the first class is pedal assist so you're pedaling it'll help you get up hills those kinds of things and but no more than 20 miles an hour on that bike the second class actually has a hand grip okay you can have like a motorcycle so if you don't want to pedal you can use the hand grip again that's regulated to 20 miles an hour no more so you still do not need a license for that then the last kind would be one that goes more than 20 miles an hour and for that one you do need to be 16 years or older and 28 miles an hour is plenty that pretty much that's the speed that they will top out easy it's correct theoretically theoretically that's exactly right okay so and those need to be licensed or you got to have a licensed rider do you have to have the vehicle license bike license I don't believe so okay nope it's just like a bicycle okay you have to have a license okay yep all right so that means you got to be at least 16 or over for that last class yes okay yep and obey the rules the road I can't stress that enough those those are that I mean you know here we are kind of well actually summer will be coming up here so in the spring but we've had a lot of people out a lot of bicyclists out walkers out things like that and again we're seeing younger people with bikes scooters the little little scooters some with electric scooters yeah got all the fancy lights on them and yeah but again I don't when we see a lot of helmets so that's one of the big gripes I hear from people is well they're not wearing helmets well I'm not their parent so thank you yes and neither are we but we certainly can strongly encourage it you know I'm a bike rider myself I love my recumbent bike love the bike trail down a Madrid specifically so many people without helmets it's it's pretty amazing and yet if you fall off your bike hit a curb something runs out in front of you and you have to take it you know hit a curb you'd be very thankful to hit your helmet versus the curb on your head that hurts oh yeah so yeah we've had plenty of accidents with bicyclists that just need to be careful I was gonna say yeah yeah you've had a number of those you've had a couple of where some kids have gone around the corner a little fast on their electric scooters and wiped out as well yeah that's a lot of road rash that's a lot of road rash yes and you know a lot of kids going to the pool yep pickleball is so so popular now yeah you know riding to the courts various places there's a lot of a lot of e-bikes out there and regular bikes but e-bikes are so popular now right so some people again the bottom line for anybody on the road which by the way they are supposed to be on the road not on the sidewalks right thing and I mean we know downtown you're supposed to be prohibited from riding on the sidewalk some people still go up there right but bottom line is you are supposed to be on the street and same for scooters yes as far right as possible okay so you can go out into the roadway get around a parked car whatever just like any other vehicle would mm-hmm but you need to be towards the right that gives plenty of room for a car to get past you or whatever the case may be and for some people when they're driving their vehicle not always paying attention like they should and you've got to be watching for this because we are in the season right now absolutely do not be on your cell phone don't be texting that is against the law now so all of it is yes it is and you know get your radio fixed to your favorite station kwbg before you head out the road and pay attention and patience got to have some patience yeah the the one I did want to ask about is to well I'll get to that but okay this is for riding scooters bicycles everything people just follow the rules I guess that's a big thing pretty simple yeah let's talk a little bit about that distracted driving again the hands-free that is now being enforced and I don't know if every once in a while I'll see somebody going there's someone trying to sneak it by oh yeah you know but have we encountered some people where you've had to give warnings or definitely have I'm not aware of any ticket jet primarily been warnings getting the word out but do they get a little sheepish when you say you're holding your phone and that can't do that yeah you can't do that anymore so slip in your pocket I don't care what you do but both hands have to be free and I know for me personally if I get it if I need to make a call or whatever I just go to the side of the road yeah it's just to me it's not worth it yeah so it's just as easy to pull over and absolutely yeah you know I go back and forth to my dad's house in Illinois I try to go at least every month month and a half yeah he likes to call where he had everything going okay I pull over and exit hey doing just fine yeah come back and that's what I've encouraged people to do it's it's just not worth of typical phone calls are not worth getting into a wreck over there we go we have that going on let's see if we talked about we've got so many other things we're gonna have the fare coming up you know have a lot of activity going on with that yeah they're starting early this year yeah a little bit so that will be going on we're gonna have a parade for that that'll be on 11th Street they're gonna do the same route they've used in the past which has worked out pretty well for it has worked out well and there's they're moving it to Wednesday they are sticking with Thursday schedule okay which is terrific starts at the railroad yeah scenic valley and then down 11th and then up in Desto Park Road from there and frankly it works out very well for everybody there's plenty of parking on the side streets so 11th Street can stay clear and it's it's been well attended so hopefully the weather cooperates well there's a few more trees along there yes that's nice too isn't July helps out a little bit in July and we know that yeah one of the challenge was coming down 8th Street trying to get them under the viaduct and out there and and again if trains are going or stopping whatever that's one of those challenges where people are trying to get there and use that so this is a much safer route he's your safer route absolutely you don't have to worry about the viaduct you know blocking people off on one side and the other and radio and back and forth because inevitably in these parades it doesn't matter what the parade is you get these huge gaps oh yeah so then you try to get some folks through as best you can you know then you have to close it off again so 11th Street I don't know who came up with that idea but I'd like to shake their hands because that's a good idea it was a good option special while we had Story Street being worked on so that kind of yes that's took a lot of it out of out of the out of the loop there that I'm sure did so worked out well and they're continuing to do that well we appreciate it they want to keep doing that some of the other things going on this time I know that in the past the department has looked for kids especially that are following the rules of the road riding their bikes wearing their helmets things like that you've done stops it's scared not scaring them no but congratulating them that's right do we still do some of that you still do some of that and it could just be it doesn't even have to be bicyclists who's wearing their helmet stopping to stop sign you stop them and give them an ice cream coupon or whatever the case may be I know for me it could just be a younger pedestrian who actually stopped on the sidewalk and looks both ways looks both it's like we like that there we go yes so I feel like promoting safety yeah yeah one of the things earlier when you had been on and visited with us we talked about parking issues I know the chief had wanted to step up some parking enforcement and that has been going on yes again it's a lot of people that are may just not paying attention I'm thinking to the amount of time they're parked in an area right and you know and part of the problem is that as far as the city lots yeah people who live downtown need a place to park yeah they don't always you know their hours might be odd as far as work or whatever so they park in the lots tend to park over that magic time whatever that time is for that particular lot so it is it's a challenge for them it's certainly a challenge for us but you know we have been asked to enforce those more stringent ladies and we certainly have been taking care of that yeah I see that parking is the same way yep I see those showing up on occasion yes indeed they're in there and the ones where of course during the time of the year when you know well winter in particular just having extra patrol people ask you know can you swing by my house I'm going to be gone for a couple of days we take that very seriously we actually have forms that we fill out we have someone in charge that one of our officers who keeps that form updated we need to do extra patrol at this house okay between these days and then every officer responsible to check on at least once a day and then patrol officers and then they'll either put in the log sheet or check it off a box so you have typically five officers at each house we get checked on several times a day so we do take those things very very seriously all right here are some of the things that we run into this time of the year people if you have kids in your vehicle pets in your vehicle and you've handled dogs before one of the train dog handlers again you can't just leave the air on all the time and stuff like that no there are again you got the heat out there and it gets hot in there and we'd rather not have issues going no no if if we just crack in the window by an inch that's just not enough especially his last two days oh I don't know what the heat index was on Tuesday but it sure felt like a hundred it was hot yeah terrible time to leave a dog in the car you know just leave him at home I assume they're in air conditioned residents whatever I know as a police officer day or night yep dog was with me I didn't have the luxury of leaving him at home and yes I would leave the air conditioner on but if I was stopped somewhere you know going in to grab a bite eat whatever the case may be I'd open the hood make sure that everything was getting proper circulation I don't know if people want to do that or not but we really need to be cognizant of our pets pets and children that you got kids in the car always check check your backseat yes and we have had some tragedies so one of the other ones this time of the year and I know we haven't last year we didn't have a lot of them but occasionally it happens if you have your vehicle parked outside make sure it's locked make sure you don't keep any valuables in there that sort of thing yes and once again please lock your car you know one of our Facebook very recent Facebook post was a bicycle yep and we certainly would like to get that bicycle back to the owner it's a nice little bike you know but the person used that bike to get into an area and then stole a car the car of course was unlocked head keys in it please lock your car and and we're still investigating we are still investigating so those are the challenges yeah a lot there it is that time of the year again people I know they like to just leave it set out maybe out on the street or in the driveway even in the driveways and stuff like that the other thing I know the department will if you have a ring camera if you have some sort of video device and would like to provide information when somebody's working on a case yes like to hear from them absolutely please call us we'll get your name on a list so if something does happen in that area we know that we can talk to you see if you have any camera you know and in this case with the case I just mentioned excuse me got several doorbell cameras which was will be very helpful so that but we're still working on oh yeah yeah yep it's I mean it's just part of police work takes it takes a while it does take time and but the video is invaluable okay let's get in commander John Slaughter our guest on our program today big thing to remember electric bikes obviously there are different kinds yes the to to initial what if you have people have questions about getting them find out what the maximum speed is yes if it's up to only 20 miles an hour you're good no license yep but if it goes higher than that got me license yep 16 or older and for those that are out on the roads again either walking and or and or using scooters and or bicycles just follow the follow traffic laws all you have to do and for the drivers of vehicles patience patience thanks for joining us thank you