Law Enforcement

The new fire headquarters is currently estimated to cost $19 million, while the new police department is calculated to cost as high as $44.8 million and a new structure for the courts department will cost residents about $4.5 million.

Pearson has held numerous positions in law enforcement in a career that has spanned 31 years, however, this is the first time he's been a Police Chief. He revealed Saturday at an event hosted by Joplin’s NAACP at the Boys and Girls Club that when interviewing for the position he was “just being himself” because he didn’t think he had a chance of being hired.

The city swore in its new police chief Monday nearly four years to the date that it swore in its former police chief Sloan Rowland in early January 2019.

US Marshall took Jemon Allen into custody Tuesday in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

The new justice center will increase workspace and allow the department to hire a new forensics investigator. Due to a lack of space JPD cannot currently hire this position. The new construction would also allow covered parking for the department's fleet of patrol cars. Allowing both the cars and officers to be protected from severe weather and helping protect the vehicles from sleet, ice and snow.

Pearson has graduated from the FBI’s National Police Academy in Quantico, VA, and the Southern Police Institute in Louisville. He is currently finishing his Doctorate in Criminal Justice at Saint Leo University in St. Leo, FL.

The Midwest is known for having low property taxes compared to coastal states. According to an analysis this year from Wallethub, Oklahoma ranked 25th and Missouri 29% for property taxes in the US. Kansas has the highest property tax rates in the Four States and ranks 37th. Arkansas is tied with Arizona for 12th.

Over 3,000 communities throughout the US are currently using Flock, including Wichita, KS, and Tulsa, OK. According to Tulsa’s Flock Transparency website, over 816,000 vehicle plates have been detected in the last 30 days, while the city has had 954 hot list hits. These are vehicles that were either used in crimes or suspected to be used in crimes. Tulsa has 67 Flock cameras.

The city council, in a 6 to 3 tally, voted in favor of business owners and their ability to sell the small bottles of alcohol that are commonly referred to as ‘Nips’, despite a documented history that 50-mililiter bans reduce the number of public drunkenness calls to law enforcement.

The reauthorization of the 1/2 cent sales tax will now expire in December of 2033.