MPS practices community-oriented policing

TOM PINNEY/DAILY FORUM
To protect and serve Maryville Public Safety Officer Michael Stolte looks up information in his patrol car. Stole has been with the Maryville Public Safety Department for 12 years.

NOTE: This is the first in a weekly series highlighting “Everyday Heroes.” Over the next several weeks, the Daily Forum will take a look at people who work tirelessly in the day-to-day operations of Maryville, in many varied facets of life. If you have a suggestion for someone we should highlight, please send an e-mail with the pertinent information to [email protected] or call the office at 660-562-2424.

When it comes to being a police officer, there is no such thing as a “typical day.”

Michael Stolte has been an officer with the Maryville Department of Public Safety since 2004, and he said his days are anything but typical.

“Every day changes,” he explained. “Some days it’s all routine traffic stops, and others you pull over someone who’s speeding only to discover he has a felony warrant out.”

That’s especially evident when classes are in session at Northwest Missouri State University, Stolte explained.

“During the first week alone, our volume increases,” Stolte said. “We have more fender-benders, more DWIs, more calls for service from civilians.”

That includes an increase of noise complaints, Stolte added. “They all differ; sometimes it’s as simple as going to the door and knocking and they quiet down and disperse.

“Others, it becomes a whole cluster where we have underage drinkers, people who are starting fights, and that stretches a 20-minute stop into two hours of shutting down the party.

Since there’s no typical day, Stolte and the other officers at the Department of Public Safety find a way to settle into the rhythm of the patrol.

“Most of the time, I’m looking for license violations, such as expired tags or inspection stickers,” Stolte said. “Every once in awhile, I find repeat offenders with suspended or revoked licenses, and I make arrests in those cases.”

Stolte’s days are also sometimes filled with drug and alcohol infractions.

“I can hardly drive up Main without seeing someone wanted for a drug infraction,” Stolte said.

Regardless of the infraction or violation, Stolte said the community is incredibly supportive of its police officers.

“I would say there is very little resistance to the police in this community,” Stolte said. “We have tough days every now and again, but the community understands we’re doing the best we can.”

Part of that process, Stolte explained, is community-oriented policing. He cited an example of a viral video which showed an officer, out on a call for a noise complaint, playing basketball with a group of adolescents.

Community-oriented policing is all about building back the relationship between law enforcement and the community they serve. “Even if only one kid remembers the positive interaction, like the officer playing basketball with his group, it creates a positive memory in their minds and increases respect for the police in that community,” Stolte said.

That respect is especially important today, with notable events in Minneapolis, Baton Rouge, and Dallas highlighting the increasing divide between law enforcement and the community.

“There’s always a focus on the negative, that we’re all bad cops,” Stolte said. “But I’m confident that 99.9 percent of us are going out there and doing our jobs correctly.

“But people just don’t see that. They only see the bad apples.”

As law enforcement agencies in other parts of the country experience resistance, Stolte reports a very different scenario.

“I was at Hy-Vee Gas getting a fountain pop, and I went up to the register to pay, and an older gentleman stopped me and said, ‘No, sir, your drink is on me,’” Stolte said. “I had never met the man before.”

He described another instance where he was in uniform, but in his personal car, and a man leaving Taco John’s went out of his way to come up to his car and thank him for his service to the community.

“It really makes it worth it,” Stolte said. “We have some hard days, but then something like that happens to remind us that our community supports us.”

Stolte has been an officer with the Department of Public Safety for 12 years, which means he’s had his share of interesting stories. He described one instance one day last summer just after 1 a.m. where he thought he was making a routine traffic stop for mismatched plates.

“I figured the person had just purchased the car and moved the plates from his old car to his new one, not knowing you can’t do that,” Stolte said. “But after I pulled him over on Main [Street] and started walking toward his car, I noticed he was just staring at me through his side-view window.

“I thought it was a little weird. But then, he just sped off.”

At that point, Stolte went back to his patrol car and began the chase north on Main Street to the bypass, where they ended up going south toward St. Joseph.

“At one point, we were going over 100 miles an hour,” Stolte said.

The chase ended in Andrew County when the suspect ran out of gas. “By then, we have four other agencies involved in the chase,” Stolte said.

“Once we got all of the information in, we find out he has warrants out for his arrest and he’s in possession of stolen property,” Stolte laughed. “And just like that, a 15-minute traffic stop turns into an hours-long chase, then two hours of paperwork back at the station and six hours testifying in court.”

Despite the hours of being on patrol and just driving around Maryville – “being present,” he called it – Stolte said he never gets tired of driving.

“Even when my family goes on vacation, I drive,” Stolte said. “You get a lot of thinking done when it’s just you and the road.”

Stolte’s family includes his wife of 16 years, who works as a registered nurse; his 20-year-old son, who is currently enrolled at the University of Central Missouri as a criminal justice major; and his 13-year-old daughter, who enters the eighth grade this week at Maryville Middle School.

Stolte is also finishing his Master’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration and Crime Management at Bellevue University this week.