Sergeant. Larry Stobbs is a 19 year veteran of the St. Joseph Police Department. He has served in the Patrol Division for 7 years before being transferred to the Traffic unit in 1995. He served as Traffic Officer specializing in DWI enforcement until his promotion to Corporal in 2000. In 2001, Corporal Stobbs was assigned as the Training Officer and Grants Administrator for the department. In 2003, a full time training officer was created and Corporal Stobbs became the full time grants administrator for all federal and state grant programs. In 2005, Corporal Stobbs was promoted to Sergeant.
Sergeant Stobbs is responsible for locating federal and state grant programs that are available to benefit not only the department, but the local community. Past programs that he has managed are technology grants that provided funding for the new radio system, the purchase of a digital fingerprinting system and various equipment programs that allow the department to obtain equipment that could not be purchased with the available local funding.
Our most recent grant awards include $200,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice for the Mid-City Weed and Seed program. Funding is utilized for law enforcement operations in the midtown area and also funds community based programs through the Bartlett Center and Catholic Charities.
The Missouri Department of Transportation has also awarded grants for a variety of programs. $6,178.00 will be used for DWI Wolfpack operations which have officers work overtime locating and arresting drunk drivers in our community. There is also a $5,005 grant for conducting sobriety checkpoint operations in St. Joseph.
In addition, $5,005 has been awarded to increase our department’s enforcement of the occupant protection laws which includes seat belt and child restraint violations. $10,379 was awarded to enforce hazardous moving violations in our cities high traffic accident areas, primarily the Belt Highway, Frederick, U.S. 36 Highway, 22nd Street and Mitchell.
Another grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation for $11,921 is utilized for underage alcohol violation enforcement. Officers working this program respond to large underage drinking parties, monitor licensed establishments for violations and also conduct compliance checks in which minors, working with the police, enter licensed liquor establishments to see if the merchant sells alcohol to minors.
WHAT'S HAPPENING... Grant funded activity for November included:
A new Live-scan Fingerprint Device and printer were installed on November 25th. This new device will provide our department with the ability to capture palm prints in addition to fingerprints. Also, the software has been upgraded to make data entry easier to input which should help reduce overall prisoner processing time.
The old Live-scan device that was purchased over four years ago is being rebuilt to current standards and when completed, will be placed near the front lobby to electronically fingerprint individuals that need them for employment purposes.
The funding for the new purchase and upgrades to the older device came from money received as part of the court costs assessed to defendants through St. Joseph Municipal Court.- Alcohol Enforcement:
Compliance Checks were conducted November 19th by the task force led by Sgt. Stobbs. The businesses inspected were located in multiple jurisdictions covered by the unit including Savannah, Country Club Village, and St. Joseph. Of the eighteen inspected, six sold alcohol to underage operatives. The operation was grant funded and was followed up by Alcohol Server Training held in the training room of Police Headquarters on November 19th. Twenty four participants completed the training. - Sgt Stobbs provided an in-service training class on November 26th in the department training room. The topic of the program was Liquor Law Enforcement. The class allowed the last of our officers needing required POST hours to complete their certification.
