K-9 Unit
School Resource Officers
Special Response Team
Traffic Unit
Hello, my name is Jim Connors; I am the commander of the St. Joseph Police Department Patrol Division. That means I have the honor of leading 78 of the hardest working people in this area. What is the Patrol Division and what do they do? I’ll briefly attempt to answer those questions, and show you how you can communicate with us.
If you are going to have an interaction with the St. Joseph Police Department, the first people you most likely will come in contact with are the members of the Patrol Division. The men and women of the Patrol Division answer your calls for service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The Patrol Division patrols the city in 9 areas we call districts, these are the “beats” the patrol officers or district officers have as their primary area of concern.
The 78 members of the Patrol Division provide service in various ways. Four officers are assigned as School Resource Officers and work daily in the high schools and middle schools of the St. Joseph School District. There are two officers assigned as Warrants Officers, their primary assignment is serving Municipal Court arrest warrants. One officer is assigned as the Court Martial at Municipal Court, his primary assignment is taking prisoners to court and making sure order is maintained while court is in session. Two officers are assigned as K-9 officers, they and their partners assist in the “patrol work” of the evening and midnight shift. The Traffic Unit is comprised of 7 officers, 6 traffic officers supervised by one Sergeant, Bill McCammon. Their job is the investigation into the more serious injury accidents and to provide directed traffic enforcement in problem areas through out the city.
The majority of the officers assigned to the Patrol Division are assigned to one of the three shifts that make up our around the clock service team. Each shift is lead by a Captain and assisted by a team of Sergeants.
Our first shift is the midnight shift which is lead by Captain Jeff Wilson he is aided by Sergeants Jonothan Beaver; Chris Black and Fritz Adams. The second shift is day shift, which is lead by Captain Kevin Castle, who also serves as departmental Public Information Officer; he is assisted by Sergeants Kevin Cummings, J.R. Evans, Rolland Smith and Matt Rock. The third shift is our evening shift and is led by Captain Carol Jo Cummings who is assisted by Sergeants Richard Ketchem, Billy Paul Miller and Becky Caton.
If you need to call us, in an emergency you should call 911. However in a non emergency the number to call is 271-4777. If you would like to talk to someone about specific problems you would like to see addressed you can call the shift Captains by phone or by e-mail. The lists of those contact numbers are
- Captain Kevin Castle (kcastle@ci.st-joseph.mo.us), 7:00 am - 3:00 pm, 271-4714.
- Captain Carol Jo Cummings (ccummings@ci.st-joseph.mo.us), 3:00pm – 11:00 pm, 271 – 4711.
- Captain Jeff Wilson (jwilson@ci.st-joseph.mo.us), 11:00 pm – 7:00 am, 271-4786.
On the side of our squad cars there is the inscription “ Protection - Service - Partnership” . To the officers of the Patrol Division of The St. Joseph Police Department that means we provide protection and service to the community in partnership with the community. If you would like to reach me I would be glad to discuss ways we can improve our service to the community. My phone number is 271 – 4719, my e-mail is jconnors@ci.st-joseph.mo.us.
Do you have a request, comment, or suggestion for the St. Joseph Police Department? If so, click here to fill out a form and it will be forwarded to the appropriate individual. Thank you.
