Explosions, Tasers and meeting a K9 have all been a part of the Junior Police Academy experience this week.

The academy, with the St. Joseph Police Department, is geared toward area students ages 12 to 14 who have an interest in a career in law enforcement.

“I came here because I want to do a line of work like my father. My father is a St. Joe police officer,” said 12-year-old Autumn, who is attending the Junior Police Academy. “We’ve been learning how to tase people, how to book evidence and we learned about Thazer.”

Thazer (pronounced like Taser) is a Dutch Shepherd and the St. Joseph Police Department K9. Officer Dillon Powell, the department’s K9 handler, spoke to the over 20 students Thursday morning and introduced Thazer. Other activities during the week included going to the gun range, hearing from the Bicycle Unit, riding in a squad car and more.

“SRT, on Wednesday, surprised us with an explosion,” said Officer Devin Kallauner. “They had two breach explosions and then they had a very large explosion that the kids absolutely loved. The bad part is, it was in the middle of the week so we have to follow the big day with some boring days, but they got a kick out of it.”

Kallauner said the Junior Police Academy offers an opportunity for students to learn more about law enforcement and what officers do on a daily basis.

“This camp is geared towards kids that are interested in law enforcement.. there are kids that also want to be in the FBI and this is a start,” Kallauner said. “This is something they could put on a resume for a law enforcement career… that they went through this and they see how the day-to-day operations of a police department work.”

Kallauner said this is the first year of the academy and they plan to continue it. The department is also considering another program for 15 to 21-year-olds.

“That’s something where you can graduate from the Junior Academy and you can move up to, I guess we’re going to call it an explorer program… we are just talking about it and, right now, our thoughts are meeting once a month instead of having it one big long week,” Kallauner said. “We’ll just span it out throughout the year to keep them interested in law enforcement, not necessarily tell them they have to come here, it’s a good recruiting tool for us, but it’s going to help other departments and other agencies throughout the state, throughout the U.S. and maybe other countries, if they decide they want to be a police officer somewhere else, but this is a good start for all the kids.”

The Junior Police Academy will wrap up with a graduation Friday. Next week, the Cops Care Youth Camp will be taking place for students ages nine to 12.

ALBANY, Mo. (AP) — Prosecutors say a northern Missouri man and woman subjected an 11-year-old girl to nearly a year of abuse, including handcuffing her to a metal cage and shocking her with a stun gun.

Gentry County prosecutors on Monday charged 39-year-old Jennifer Reed, of Albany, with 42 felonies, including kidnapping, child endangerment and domestic assault. Fifty-year-old Raymond Burks of Albany is charged with 22 felonies including kidnapping and child endangerment.

Court documents indicate Burks and Reed were the girl’s guardians.

Burks and Reed were charged Monday and will be arraigned Wednesday, July 25.

They are being held in the Daviess-DeKalb County jail on $250,000 bond.

Reed’s boyfriend, Lonnie Johnson, is charged with tampering with evidence in the case.

(Missourinet) – A new report shows car theft is on the rise in Missouri, especially in all major metro areas.

For the first time, the report ranks St. Joseph and Springfield in the top ten for auto theft rate. According to the State Highway Patrol, some 18,000 vehicles were stolen in Missouri in 2016. The state’s 2017 car theft figures have not been finalized but they are expected to increase even more.

Kevin Gamble with State Farm Insurance tells Missourinet the number of auto thefts has been trending upwards in the United States since 2016.

“Property crime, in general, in the United States has dropped considerably over the last couple of decades, but vehicle thefts specifically have not dropped to the same extent,” he says.

Last year, Kansas City had the most car thefts with more than 9,700. St. Louis followed with about 8,100. Gamble says the two major cities have traditionally had similar figures.

The report, conducted by the National Insurance Crime Bureau, also tracks the theft rate or number of vehicle thefts per 100,000 population. According to the report, as a population-based survey, an area with a much smaller population and a moderate number of thefts can—and often does—have a higher theft rate than an area with a much more significant vehicle theft problem and a larger population to absorb it. Which is how St. Joseph, with 952 thefts, places 5th while Los Angeles, with 60,444 thefts places 33rd.

“Some aspects of this time of crime activity are the familiar ones – break-ins, individuals having their vehicles stolen,” Gamble says. “But to some extent, we’ve seen trends where thieves had to become a little more resourceful because of all the additional security features that are built into cars now. In some cases, you’re seeing them shift their targets to things like rental car fleets, more sort of identity theft type of crimes or falsifying vehicle titles, things of that nature. There may be some emerging trends in the types of thefts that are happening along with the overall amount of crime that is going on.”

Gamble says the most frequently stolen cars are Honda Accords and Civics and Ford and Chevy full-size trucks.

“Those are traditionally frequently stolen vehicles,” he says. “Many different model years are high in the list of stolen vehicles. As far as newer models of vehicles, the Toyota Camry and the Nissan Altima are some of the top stolen cars, but overall for make and model it’s the Hondas and the Ford and Chevy pickups.”

Gamble says the average loss per car theft is about $7,600.

“That’s a pretty big impact individually on consumers. When you consider that adds up to potentially tens of thousands of thefts in the state of Missouri and nearly 800,000 across the country, there’s a big impact on the economy from this activity,” he says.

Gamble says nearly 30,000 vehicles a year are stolen with the keys left in the cars.

To see the report, click here.

The Trails West! Festival is making some changes this year.

Tickets instead of buttons for the Trails West!® festival August 17-19 will be the new admission into the festival. Tickets will be redeemed at the gate for a two-day wristband. 

Teresa Fankhauser, executive director of the Allied Arts Council, said after 25 years of admittance buttons, switching to tickets is the right change.

“We wanted to follow the trend and follow what other festivals were doing,” Fankhauser said. “Now, people don’t have to worry about being poked by a button.”

If someone shows up wearing all 25 buttons, the individual and a guest will receive a free 2-day wristband. Also new this year, the festival is offering single day passes if someone only plans to attend the festival Friday or Saturday for a $10 wristband at the gate.

The last day to purchase advance tickets is August 15.

Main Stage performers this year include Robert Randolph and the Family Band performing Friday and Chase Rice on Saturday. The theme of the 2018 festival is ‘Made with Uncommon Character.’

Tickets are available for sale in St. Joseph at the Allied Arts Council, City Hall, Commerce Bank, Farmers State Bank, Goetz Credit Union, Hy-Vee, Mosaic Life Care, NASB, Nodaway Valley Bank, Price Chopper, St. Joseph CVB and UMB Bank.

Tickets will allow individuals to enjoy entertainment, fine art, folk art and food. Advanced tickets can also be purchased through the Allied Arts Council website.

For more information, contact the Allied Arts Council at (816) 233-0231.