John Wiebold, Boone Police Chief talks about Public Safety, RAGBRAI, School Begins, Farm Progress Show and Super Nationals, August 13, 2026

Joining us today John Webold our chief of police and good to have you here. Good morning. Thanks for having me. We made it Got through got through the rain and thunderstorms and everything else and Didn't have a lot of damage or anything. Thankfully. No, okay. We'll go with that. We keep keep updated on those things Let's uh, John a little bit about Activities that have been going on obviously rag bride. That was the last big event you had going on and I know you did give a little bit of information to the City council that actually probably went about as well as could be expected. Yeah, we it could not have gone better We had a great group of volunteers that helped out which made it, you know, go very smooth We had a great plan in place thanks to the red red committee and really thanks to the sit the citizens of Boone that were welcoming and Patient and allowed this to go very very well. That was the big thing because I know you said we got him coming into town We're gonna send him this way and you know, that was good, but they were camping all over town Yeah, they were going all over the place. So yeah when when we have 20,000 plus extra people show up the town that we got to find a place to put them and they will kind of go wherever they want and In some instances, but you know, it was just a great a great day and a half And I just can't thank all those people enough volunteers and the citizens and it was great Of course having a break in the weather didn't hurt. Oh, that surely made it better for my staff for sure is not having to be out There in 90 some degree heat. So it was great. Well, that part's done Thankfully, thankfully that part's over with but we're not quite done yet We still well first thing up next thing up is really gonna be school gets back in session. So here we go Yeah, I did my mr. Mom thing remember this is the drop-off line. This is the pickup line You know that kind of thing. Yeah, there are Things that are going on with it out here. First of all Again traffic congestion you get around the middle school in particular gets to be right, you know And it's gonna take people a couple days to remember how this goes But you know it goes smoothly after people figure out the the order of things, but yeah school starting up We're gonna have our SRO officer chase Smith back in the schools this year and we're excited about that We really appreciate our relationship with the Boone Community School District to allow that and I think it's a great program for everybody Is that Mike? Who is it fourth third fourth year now for him? Yeah, third year for him. So and again He covers. Yes. He got goes to all the different buildings. Yeah, yeah as one for we have one SRO So he has to cover all the buildings, but he does a good job of getting to all the buildings and a majority of his need Is at the middle school in the high school? So that's where most of his time is spent but he makes it to the elementary schools Also every week when they have the I mean they're getting ready to come back in and stuff like that I know he was one of those that he's gone through alice training. He's is he a trainer? Yes He is so he can he will be part of them coming back into yeah Me he helps train the the staff every year. So It's it's a great It's a great thing for us to have him in the schools. So he works at it Yeah, oh, yeah, you definitely have to work it Uh, so that's going on and again, we're going to have kids that are I've got to go with the e-bikes e-scooters and stuff. They're going to be going back and forth to school and part of it is You know, I've had commander sloater on before said don't write on the sidewalks, but again traffic people You got to be looking for these right. I mean, yeah, just Both people need to be patient right the the e-bike riders need to follow all the traffic laws And that's something we're trying to get out to parents to talk to their kids about and You know those first couple days of school There's a lot of new traffic. There's a lot of new drivers. Oh, yeah, we have the uh, you know The school permit kids that are just starting for the first time So everybody just needs to be very careful be patient. Uh, everybody will get to school just just fine Patience bottom line patience. I say that a lot don't I just have a little bit of patience. Have some patience Things just seem to go better Obviously and for the school one of the issues is their parking lots not going to be done Yeah, that's going to be an issue for sure. They're really digging into that. I drove by that yesterday and That's quite the project. Well, they found a lot of buried things. I saw that actually Good generated a little additional work there. Uh, but they are talking about temporarily using geppinger field to At least for parking space for them if they can because they do have some limitations around the school Yeah, that's going to be an issue early on but I They should get around I figure you're going to get a few complaints about their parking in front of my house Uh, we're prepared for it. We'll do what we can. Yep. Uh, anyway, that'll be going on over there. So just Buses bus safety again people don't forget flashing red lights Pat don't don't go around them. Don't go around the the stop sign That's an expensive ticket and a loss of license sometimes So please do not go around the stop signs of a bus. Okay. We got that part And again that just continues all year long. So we're going to be dealing with those Uh, the other big one coming up after that then is going to be more traffic congestion farm progress farm progress show And uh, of course a lot of the activity We get a lot more state patrol out there to help with that, but that's uh, all east of town But we have the people leaving town and coming into town in the afternoons in the evening Still going to have a lot of congestion, especially since We're not real sure what kind of construction is going on down on Hancock and corporal snedon, right? So a lot of that congestion is going to come in on Old 30 and then come down corporal snedon drive. And so that intersection at Well, you know commonly called airport road and highway 30 might be a little busy So we'll have officer down there to help control traffic or help get everybody through Um, hopefully the last couple years since they put the overpass in Out there on 17. It's been a lot better for us Um, but we have an officer down there to monitor that at all times during that So it's just going to be one of those where yeah, you just have to again the patience And uh, you have to have somebody out there walking because we did unfortunately had to had a fatal accident down It is one of those pretty pretty dangerous ones. And some construction was actually going on there. Yes, they were Kind of handling traffic or the dot was Uh, we'll make it through. Yeah, that's the first first through the third of september I think in uh, one of the things in the past we've always talked about is plan your route accordingly. It's three days You might have to Plan going a little different direction to avoid some of the traffic inbound or outbound at different times of the day But it is going to have a lot of people coming a lot of people come to that Yep So that will be going on and then while that's happening We're still going to have a huge influx coming Because super nationals come up right after that right after that. Yes, sir And that'll be uh, actually they'll be Labor Day, they're going to be racing out there then That will probably have a pretty full slate of activity going on Racing up to it because once the season's done then we get a lot of these preludes to the super nationals And so we have a lot of people already relocating on the south side of town. That's right Yeah, super nationals really starts on the 7th, but That's the monday so that that saturday prior to that they have a prelude and then the sunday they have a prelude race So there's going to be really saturday to saturday is is going to be very busy at the speedway or in around the speedway so that is I just yeah, that's always a lot It's a lot You have a lot of people that are camping out there and doing other things to you and you have had a high number Higher increase I think in calls between you and the sheriff's department. I know they try to step up security, but It is imca and it is uh, it's a big event. It's a big event. Yeah, so we'll have officers down there um Every night and on the weekends, especially have extra officers in the speedway, but you know really The last several years have gone really well down there. I don't want to uh Chinks us here, but it's uh, it's gone very well. Um, they've changed some things As far as some of the golf cart and four wheeler problems that were that caused a lot of our problems down there in the past So yeah, things have gone well and I think I expect last year was a record number. I expect there's probably going to be a new record this year um So it's a it's a busy busy week last year was the first one with the crossover taken out at south lin So south lin and 30. Uh, so They did work their way through that and got around it. I think, um I get probably do the same thing this year. I think It's a learning experience. Sure. I think the plan went well last year. They opened that a very south entrance up for the for the Haulers and that seemed to work pretty well. So I think that's the plan again this year and um again be patient South story in in uh 30 is gonna that four-way stop is going to be pretty busy for a couple days But once the haulers are in it really is not that big a deal Yeah, because it's it's a little tougher for some of them to make it around. Yeah, I get the big thing is Yeah, again patience down there and if you don't have to really go that direction avoid it Or at least try try to not get all the way out there onto 30 You'll be able to head some other directions in there too. So that'll be happening I know that's going to be one of those ongoing ones and then they're in and out because you have different things going every day during during super nationals that's just Keeping you really busy there They do a good job of of controlling there in and out and it has gone really well in the last several years So I'm hoping for another good year. We'll keep keep our fingers crossed Well, all that's going on and then after that then you gear up and get ready for the 50th anniversary puffer billy That's right. Never really get a slow down here for a couple a couple months. Are we no no no slow down for us So and again, that's downtown and I know Victoria's already brought in some of the plans some of the things a few minor adjustments, but We will have again the open Beverage area and things like that. We've done that a couple of years now So yeah open beverage area down. We want mostly story street eight street And then seven street during the car show The the stage is in a little different area this year. So that's going to be a little change for us this year, but I think Victoria has a nice plan and uh, I expect it to to be a good weekend Yeah, and by the way, she just doesn't throw them together She puts them together kind of and then you guys sit down and kind of go through it you and uh fire chief and yeah and public work structure, yeah, so We have some input to get it done to you and we got a great big parade as always So uh, I'll look forward to that that route hasn't changed. So that's going to be the the same off hand cock Hand cock up story all the way to seventh seventh. Yeah over to the high school over to the high school Yeah, well, you know, we'll do what we have to do. We'll get them all in there too So while all of that's happening again, and uh at the same time you just have all the regular business you have to take care of Uh, again, we are going to hit the super nationals Which is the one time out of the year when you have prohibitions on atvs utvs on the city streets Yes, uh, and that's really set up. So because we don't want utvs atvs crossing 30 So we just the easiest way is just to prohibit it for the whole city for that week and uh You know we early on before we had this prohibition There were some really near misses out there on 30 as four-wheelers were coming across and it was it was enough to Make that a bad idea to have them on driving around everywhere. So um, you know, that's a prohibition for that whole week and And as a reminder, you can't drive race cars on the street either Occasionally we have one that wants to drive across to the car wash. You can't do that either. So, um, You know I could slip in there Yeah, we've seen that a few times. So, uh, you know, keep the race cars on the south side of 30 and most of the The atvs and utvs again, most of the users are pretty familiar with the fact that we do have that prohibition during during just during super nationals just that week Yeah, and there are a number of people that drive them pretty much year-round all the time in town and they we've had no problems with them Being legal, I guess on the road. Uh, so that's been great. I think it's a a good idea. Actually, I was before that idea and But just that week we need to need to make everybody a little safer that week and keep them keep them off the roads All right What other things are coming up for you? Well, hopefully nothing else Well, let's talk a little bit one of the things is and I know you said it's nice to have chase back in the school, but uh But it basically the beginning of the year He was kind of splitting time between being at school and being doing regular police work because you had some staffing Yeah, people gone people coming in Yeah, I mean you had a number of different things that were going on I still remember when you said you were doing this what nine ten years and you've only had a full staff Like nine months out of the whole thing. Yeah, so we're still not quite full staff, but um, we've had some other some We had an officer deployed and he's back and we had a new hire that got out of academy and he's done with his training So staffing looks a lot better than it than it has in for a year at least So, uh, that's why we're able to put chase back into school and we're very very excited about that So things are going in the upward direction. We like that. Yeah, uh, again school resource officers So folks understand the school does pay for some you guys did pick up a little bit of the extra cost Yeah, so yeah, we renegotiate that contract and and they're they're covering a little bit more of his expenses Which we greatly appreciate and uh, again We all wanted to right so they wanted to we wanted to or the city wanted to it was a it's a mutual agreement that That we both like that program want to keep that going so Someday i'm going to ask him what all do you do besides I mean just being in the school because he does other things too I mean, you know like we talked about the training that he provides for teaching staff and things like that Yeah, so he's got other other things he has to take care of i'm sure yeah, he talks to a lot of classes Various times though the one an officer to come in or He'll have a little portion to teach about something He does a lot of helps a lot of disciplinary stuff Obviously if there's somebody doing something wrong then a lot of times he's involved that doesn't mean He writes a ticket or makes an arrest every time but he's involved a lot his you know, obviously his presence helps um Calm some situations so they seem to get the issues of the vaping and the things like yeah There's a lot of vaping in the school that he has to deal with and you know those types of things, but um Yeah, he's he's pretty busy up there. He keeps Now a lot busier and most of them they go please Yeah, but you know what he builds a lot of great relationships with relationships with kids and it's a great program for us and you know, we try I know there was a An article or a opinion that came out from the ACLU about how law enforcement in schools leads to more kids being in the criminal justice system and we try very hard not To cite kids in school. That is not our goal there Um, our goal is to keep kids safe keep the staff and the the kids safe at the schools That's that's the number one reason we're there. So um, we there's been several times where lots of times where we don't cite people Because let the school handle it Um internally and if that doesn't work a second time or a third time then we will get involved So the administration really he's a resource for them On how far they are getting to having to go. Absolutely That part so one I did want to ask about too because I know the schools are kind of picking up the cost that Uh after the shooting incident down at Perry, uh, then we had a lot done to Do mapping of the schools the buildings the structures and keeping that all updated And because we have if incidents happen like that Everybody comes from all over and where who's where doing what and what what's the building like and the layout and everything else? The state quit paying for that. I know Uh, the schools are at least kind of picking up but they are looking to build kind of a Coalition to keep it going. That's important because well, you've got new new buildings and things happening all the time Well new buildings and new officers, right? So some of some of our officers grew up in boon and went to some of these schools But a lot of these schools are new for even those officers and then a lot of officers like myself didn't Weren't from boon. I've been here 25 years now, but I didn't go to these schools. Um, and so Yeah, those maps are very important for new officers outside officers Even our current officers to know because what we call A location isn't what the school is necessarily going to call a mission. So Again, gotta keep those keep them updated. Very important. It's one of those that Uh, again the state good idea when it started, but then all of a sudden turning the cost over Yeah, to the schools and the communities. So we'll work our way through it. We'll work. We'll work through it again patients folks patients otherwise Typical things coming up scams are seeing news. I'm seeing some new things showing up on scams and we're also seeing Some of those well the attorney general now doing a Working with what meta I think on some of the scam prevention that Again, just I think making people aware. Yeah, and they're getting more and more sophisticated. It's so easy

You know for them to Look like a real thing, right? Whether it's an email or a text message. I mean, they're doing everything now But let me tell you if they ask for payment on a gift card of any kind that is not a government agency That is not a real thing Well, that's a very common thing where they'll say hey, we're from This county or whatever this state and you owe us $20,000 on some back ticket and if you don't pay it right now, we're gonna have a warrant for your rest And they'll say and you need to pay it by giving us itunes cards Well, no government agency is asking for any gift card of any kind So so please talk to your family because a lot of times it's your older relatives that That don't quite understand or don't understand some of the technology And and we've seen some people lose some pretty good chunks of money that way by falling for and it's it's unfortunately It does happen. It does happen. I know we we get the information or I see on the call She you know the boom police had a scam or the sheriff's department or Ogden and Sometimes it's people saying Just wanted you know, I saw this and I this is I believe this is a scam Right, you know that kind of thing and looking for some confirmation But then you get some that Someone comes in and says I went over to my mother's place today and yes Unfortunately, there's some people who lost some pretty big chunks of money You know, but I will say the AG's office has been great. We've worked with them on several cases even some international stuff. They're doing Believe it or not, we're working with International agencies at this point to try and recoup some of that money or at least at least get the people Captured so it's gone that far and our AG's office has been great to work with on that The other one that goes on that people don't realize is you guys along with the sheriff's department involved with Sting I guess we'll call it a sting. I think uh for Traffickers. Yeah, we've done some uh, trafficking uh, online trafficking investigations, uh, those have Unfortunately I'm gonna say panned out because we don't we don't want to find people in our community like that and unfortunately We have from our own community or from outside the community and unfortunately Have had a few of those but we've made good arrests and convictions So and again, this is a collaborative thing too because it's just it's not only you but the sheriff's department and you guys Yeah, you've got some people. I hate to say it, but they're good They're good at building a case against people. Yeah, uh, they you know, we did we sent an officer to some training actually we hosted the training and uh that training was very thorough and The officers have taken that to heart and worked pretty hard to try and get Anybody trying to meet up with a juvenile You know, um, we've we've done a good job of making some arrests on that You don't folks you don't see or hear about it too often, but uh, it is it's a constant thing You have to it doesn't happen overnight. Correct So again, you got to work at those big things that we want to talk about is going to be the traffic activity going on We got the schools everything else happening there coming back into session Uh buses will be out there patients Supernationals traffic patients Uh farm progress show patients have some have some patients. That's right. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you