Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
Thursday, May 6, 1999
Kolpek targets Public Safety agency in C.F. Council bid
by Jon Erickson
Courier staff writerCEDAR FALLS - Vern Kolpek promises to paint a stark contrast this fall in the race for an at-large berth on the City Council.
Kolpek, an ex-Cedar Falls police officer, may not be a one-issue candidate, but his biggest issue bt far is the elimination of the city's Public Safety administration.
He will run this fall for Barbara Brown's seat on the council. Brown has been the most vocal supporter of the Public Safety Department on the City Council.
Kolpek calls the Public Safety Department "expensive, inefficient, not needed" and "a nightmare."
"It's creating a lot of problems. There's very low morale in the police and fire departments and people are leaving and there's more that are going to leave," Kolpek said. "I don't know if Cedar Falls wants to lose these well-trained people who are leaving for lower paying jobs."
Kolpek would like to eliminate the Public Safety Department and return to having seperate fire and police department with their own respective chiefs.
Kolpek is a former Cedar Falls police officer. He took a disability retirement in 1966 after he was blinded when a 17-year-old robbery suspect shot him with a shotgun through the window of his squad car.
In addition to public safety issues, Kolpek would like to see the City strip away some layers of administration. He thinks the city spends too much money on administratiors. He would also lower pay for council members and mayor.
"I want to see us get back to responsible government," Kolpek said.
Kolpek will be an ally of mayoral candidate Satn Smith, and thinks if both are elected he would help Smith impliment new ideas.
"He's got the guts to do it. He's got a lot of experience and he's a 'doer,'" Kolpek said of Smith. "he will need a council that will work with him."
Kolpek had run for mayor himself in 1967, but admits that was not a serious effort. This time he says he's serious and will be out knocking on doors.
Kolpek speaks lovingly of the city where he was born and raised, and that supported him after he lost his sight.
There's something about Cedar Falls that you just don't find anywhere else. It's a great city. It's the people," Kolpek said.
Sunday, September 12, 1999
C.F. officers injured on short-handed shift
by Jon Erickson
Courier staff writer
Illness cuts patrol unit on what became hectic Labor Day experience; officers point to new staffing policy.
Cedar Falls – Two Cedar Falls police officers were injured in the early morning of Labor Day, feeding more fuel to the fire of police complaints about being short staffed.
Officers Keith Lemka and Todd Wilson sustained injuries during a chase and scuffle early Monday during a hectic night that found the three officers who were on the streets scrambling to get from one call to the next.
Both Lemka and Wilson are back at work, but some officers pointing to the incident as an example of how the current Public Safety Department policy puts officers in danger.
As the graveyard shift reported for duty Sunday night, four officers arrived, a typical patrol number for a Sunday. However, the community service officer scheduled to work the station desk called in sick, meaning one of the patrol officers had to stay in the station. That left three on the streets.
The night turned out to be extremely busy, with fights, loud parties and disorderly conduct breaking out in many areas of town.
Wilson and another officer, Tim Eich, became tied up at a disorderly call at Club Shagnasty’s at 1:35 a.m. Monday, only one of a series of similar calls that shift. As Eich was preparing to transport a person arrested in that incident to the county jail, Lemka radioed for help at 1:53 a.m. He was engaged with a van that had been chasing a car at high speeds through the Parkade in downtown Cedar Falls.
Wilson sped off to assist Lemka, and on arrival both officers had to run after the driver who fled on foot. In the process of chasing down the suspect and a subsequent scuffle to make the arrest, Lemka sustained a pulled groin muscle and an abrasion on his hand. Wilson reported a sore neck and back after the incident.
The suspect was arrested for operating while intoxicated, driving while barred and interference with official acts.
Wilson and Lemka were treated at Sartori Memorial Hospital. Wilson missed two days of work last week, while Lemka did not miss any.
According to the county dispatch center, Wilson had requested additional assistance as the foot chase began, but a sheriff’s deputy was not available. A state trooper, however, heard the call for help on the radio and responded.
By the time the trooper arrived, the drunken driver situation was under control, but a fight had broken out at Toad’s Bar and Grill, which the trooper and a sheriff’s deputy who arrived later handled.
Officers say lack of immediate backup put the officers in danger. Later in the shift, some calls to intervene in load parties were stacked up because officers were occupied with getting those arrested booked into the county jail.
Another officer was called in to the shift about 3:30 a.m., and reported shortly after 4 a.m. However, by the that time, the busy part of the night was over and calls had settled down.
Rick Ahlstrom, deputy director of police operations, said the decision to staff three officers was a judgement call made by the captain.
"There was some consideration into holding someone over because the community service officer called in sick, but the duty captain, absent any other information, did not find that appropriate at the time," Ahlstrom said.
He noted that officers on the shift earlier that night had not reported heavy activity, so the captain didn’t have reason to expect a busy night
