Recap from the Feb 21st, 2022 Meeting.
Meeting Run by President: John Kuhl
Invocation: Frank Iliff
Guests: Heather Morrison-Lutheran Living, Augustine and Ambrose Nietzel- Guest of Dan Nietzel
Happy News/Announcements: A Reminder the funds from Happy News go towards our scholarships.
Jessica Whitman- Excited to announce she got her Braces off. Rob Yant- Fostering a dog through For Pet’s Sake. Micah Colbert- Missed visiting Rotary meeting due to illness but happy to be feeling better and looking forward to rescheduling another time to visit. Also excited to be selected a speaker for EntreFEST- a conference celebrating the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation. Naomi DeWinter- Donated $20 in honor of the Police Department, Our Speakers and the work that they do. John Kuhl- Happy for the great attendance for President’s Day.
Club News:
Keep in Your Thoughts: Long time member Scott Natvig passed away. Please keep his family in your thoughts.
Beth Poci, wife of long time member Todd Poci, passed this past weekend. Keep Todd and their children in your thoughts.
Reminder: A few weeks ago Mike Ruby extended a challenge to match up to $500 in donations made to Rebuild Together Muscatine County. Current donations amount to $200. You can make a donation to Rebuild Together through our club or report an individual donation to the club and we will track the donations and report when the match is met.
Club Announcement:
We are happy to offer a Hybrid option for meetings allowing members who are not able to join us in person to take part in the meeting. Note the Zoom Link remains the same each week, if you can not find the most recent email containing the link any past email will work. Please reach out to John or a board member if you ever have trouble signing in online.
Presentation:
Captain Tony Kies & Lieutenant Ryan Buss
Contemporary issues facing Law Enforcement:
Staffing: Department is currently 41 sworn, and short 5 officers. 1 shift of patrol is 9 people. Patrol is not only program, also have: Investigative Unit, Drug Task force, Evidence Technician program, Field Training Program, SWAT Program, defensive tactics, and ABLE and Code Blue.
Transparency: About three years ago went to council and requested body cams. Currently have squad car video and body cams. This has helped address some of the transparency issues.
Use of Force: Cry for Use of Force and are you using de-escalation techniques? Program and Techniques have been looked at closely. Do defensive tactics training ever other year and fire arms training every year but really asked are we doing the right things for this community, training officers to respond the best way on a scene. Introduction of ABLE Program (Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement) a program emphasizing Doing what is best for the Community.
Program- Code Blue
The Code Blue program is unique to Muscatine. The mission statement of the Code Blue program is to serve with empathy and support individuals and families in our local community during a time of trial or tragedy. With gratitude we seek to form partnerships with other local sponsors and establishments who have a common mission to serve and support!
- Code Blue is a Community Oriented Police program initiated by Muscatine Police Department staff in response to tragic events within the community.
- Tragic events include unexpected death, death of a child, house fire, or other particularly devastating circumstances.
- The goal of the program is to acknowledge the pain that a family is experiencing and momentarily alleviate their grief through SERVING them.
- In partnership with local restaurants, a meal, in the form of gift cards, is provided to families recovering from tragic events.
Upcoming Meetings: Feb 28th - Aftermath of December’s Killer Tornado in Kentucky, Mar 7th- 2022 Muscatine Art Center Update, March 14th- Cycling Opportunities in Muscatine
Missed Today’s meeting? Check out the program recording-
Topic: Weekly Meeting
Date: Feb 21, 2022 11:34 AM Central Time (US and Canada)
Meeting Recording:
Access Passcode: Rotary#1