09/29/2026
Cozad foot patrol
By JERRY SCHRIER
June 1, 1983
Police officer visibility on the streets is an effective deterrent from crime...and Cozad residents have been seeing their police officers walking the streets during all hours of the day. Beginning shortly after Mayor Dean Geihsler's installation as
mayor in December of 1978, the Cozad police officers have been required to walk the streets during some time of their eight hour shifts.
According to Cozad Police Chief Bill Stevenson, Mayor Geihsler ordered the police officers to do so.
"It's a good deterrent to crime," Stevenson said. "People see an officer downtown on foot instead of always in a car. It works well to let people know we are walking around checking up on them."
Since each officer is required to spend some time on the foot patrol, the downtown area is constantly exposed to police pro-tection 24 hours a day.
Stevenson said the officers are not committed to a set amount of time on the foot patrol because of the other time demands of the shift.
"Usually we only have one officer on duty and that officer has to answer all calls we get," Stevenson said. "And that usually means getting back to the car and driving to another location to answer another call."
The foot patrol officer carries a hand radio, keeping in com-munications with the dispatcher, however, must usually use the car in answering other calls.
The most tangible advantage of the foot patrol has been the number of doors found unsecure, according to Stevenson.
"You'd be surprised at the amount of doors we find open," Stevenson said. Since the beginning of the year, through the middle of June, foot patrol officers have discovered 43 doors unlocked in the downtown area.
Once a door is found unsecure, the officer makes contact with the owner or manager of the store.
Once the store person arrives, the police officer proceeds to check the inside of the building, leaving the owner or manager outside.
After the store is determined safe, the store person is asked to examine the store for damage or missing items. After the ex-amination is complete, the building is locked, the owner or manager goes home and the officer continues his rounds.
"A lot of owners just tell us to lock it back up," Stevenson said. "And we'll do that... whatever the owner wants us to do."
He said some locks require a key to be activated, so the owner must come to the store. "No matter what time of day or night, we will make the owner aware of the open door or window," Stevenson said.
As an effort to publicize the foot patrol's efforts, Stevenson issued a pad of door check slips to each officer.
Periodically, we will leave a note inside the business' door explaining when the building was checked and if everything was secure.
"When the businessmen open up the next day, they know they have been checked," Stevenson said. He said this practice of leaving notes began in March.
"I've really had a good response from the downtown owners, Stevenson said. He added the time of the check draws the interest.
"They really like the idea of the time," he said. "I don't know why they like the time, but they really do."
During the night, the foot patrol's major task is deterring crime. Stevenson said he could remember one incident, two or three years ago, when the walking officer heard the glass breaking at the Rancho Bar (currently Coaches' Corner) and two men were arrested inside.
Through the month of May, 65 hours and six minutes were logged in foot patrol, the equivalent of 5.2 days. According to Stevenson 11 doors were found unsecure during those hours.
Stevenson said hurried businessmen are usually to blame for the unlocked doors. "I remember one time we found the keys still in the door," he said.
Stevenson's police officers are fairly receptive to the practice. "A couple don't particularly like to go around and check doors, they think they should be doing other things," the police chief said.
"However, the rest, especially my Sargent (Bob Lambert). really like checking the streets and alleys."
"For one thing it cuts down on the mileage of the cruiser, Lambert said. "And I think when an officer walks into a store, it acts as a deterrent for shoplifting."
Under a similar program, the police officers check the outlying areas of town periodically. Stevenson said the officers will spotlight the building from the car or will walk around the building, checking for anything unusual.
