Nampa Citizens,
Due to an overwhelming amount of ever-increasing calls for service over the past few years, we have implemented a response plan in order to give our patrol officers some time to do “proactive police work.” This plan will give your officers some time to go out and find crime, rather than wait for you to be a victim of crime. While crime reporting is necessary and we expect to have crimes reported to us, we are often several steps behind the criminals when some crimes are reported days after they happen or no evidence is left at the scene to catch a criminal. This plan will not prevent all crime in the City of Nampa, however we are expecting it to give your officers some extra time and our community some enhanced services.
Changes to what Nampa Patrol Officers responded to are as follows:
Nampa Police Officers will not respond to requests for the disciplining of children when requested from parents. Unless there has been a crime committed or there is a disturbance/potential crime in progress, we are not dispatching officers. If circumstances warrant (criminal offense or it has involvement to a school they work at), you may be referred to our SRO Division. They can be reached directly at 468-5580.
Patrol officers will no longer respond to Code Enforcement violations (weeds, water, etc), unless it is an immediate hazard. We will have a resource list of phone numbers posted for contact with code enforcement and other resources for you on our website, Facebook and twitter feeds.
Patrol officers will no longer respond to “cold” reckless driving complaints. “Cold” means it is no longer in progress and the reckless driver is no longer in your sight. We will send officers to look for the car in the area last seen, call load permitting. We are asking that if you wish to pursue your case criminally, you can file an on-line or mail in report and we will follow up as time allows.
Patrol officers will not respond to incidents determined to be civil in nature. Municipal police have no jurisdiction in matters that are not criminal. (ie. Landlord/tenant disputes, car or property repossessions, contract issues and anything not a crime as defined by Idaho Code) Standbys for police will require a court document with specific instruction for police to intercede. A Police supervisor will be able to contact you if requested and when time permits.
Thefts from vehicles (not in progress) will be handled by our Community Service Officers. Normally these are “cold” calls and many times, we do reporting for insurance purposes. If you have serial numbers on items stolen, the case may be referred to our detectives. These types of reports can also be done on line for your convenience.
Patrol Officers will no longer respond to VIN inspections. These will be handled by our Community Service Officers. The number to call and schedule an inspection is 208-468-7916. If they do not answer, leave a message and they will call you back as soon as time permits. Community Service Officers are on duty 7days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Patrol Officers will no longer respond to abandoned vehicles that are not causing a traffic hazard. Our Community Service Officers will address abandoned vehicles. You can call them at 208-468-7916 to notify them of a vehicle that needs towed. They will investigate this and attend to it accordingly. Community Service Officers are on duty 7days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Reports of lost property are tracked by a “crime report number.” You can report lost property on our on line reporting system on our web page and you will be contacted via email with that crime report number for your convenience.
Reports of identity theft will be forwarded to our on-line reporting system on our webpage. There is a victim packet of information on the webpage that you can download for reporting to the credit bureaus and for your record keeping purposes. If you do not have access to the internet, a mail in form can be sent to you and the victim packet is available for pick up at the Hugh Nichols Public Safety building for your convenience.
The above noted calls for service are not something our patrol officers can do something with at the time of your call, with the exception of the VIN inspections and abandoned cars. Many of the reports generated are later forwarded to detectives, resource officers (if there are leads), to other agencies or to insurance companies. In efforts to free up the officers and provide our community with some enhanced services, we provide on-line and mail in reporting. We have also shifted some of the service related calls to our Community Service Officers to try to keep our officers out on priority calls.
Online and mail-in reports are taking the place of an officer taking a report. The outcome is not going to change, as we will address each report received as we have in the past. The only thing we are changing is how we get that information to those that will investigate or follow up on your calls. We expect the self service options to be an addition to the service we already do provide.
Starting June 12, 2016, this plan will go into effect and your calls will be handled as indicated above. If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please contact us at 208-468-5661.