Crimes, they are a changing

KELLOGG - Although there has been a general decline in crime in Kellogg over the past several years, prescription drug theft and abuse is on the rise.

That's the word from Kellogg Police Chief Dave Wuolle.

Wuolle, 48, has served as chief of police in Shoshone County's largest city since 2005.

"The crime rate has decreased quite a bit," he said. When he started as a patrol officer for the Kellogg Police Department in 1999, "Burglary rates were high," he said.

In addition to these "property crimes" falling, he has also seen a decline in DUI arrests.

"A lot of it is better enforcement and management of the bars," Wuolle said, noting bartenders try to find rides home for those who have had too much to drink.

"We have a great working relationship with our bars. We do bar checks," he said. "We have some very responsible bar owners. If they have a problem, they call us. That's what we like.

"We had a really big problem with meth (when I first started in '99)," Wuolle said. "We were getting a lot of meth labs." These have declined because of changes in the laws that have made it tougher for people to get ingredients to make methamphetamine, or meth. "I haven't dealt with a meth lab since 2001," he said.

"We're not seeing the drug-related arrests we used to see. We have a bigger prescription medication problem," he said. This involves people who steal prescription drugs from homes or vehicles.

The prescription drug theft problem has been going on for the past four or five years, he said.

"People who use and abuse prescription medication know others who do. It's an 'inner circle,'" he said.

Wuolle notes there have been big changes over the years in local law enforcement since he started his career as a reserve officer in Pinehurst in 1988.

"Law enforcement has matured with advancements in technology," he said. This has in turn led to better policing.

"We were provided a 12-gauge shotgun and a patrol car." Officers had to buy their own handgun. Now they get a .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic pistol and a Ruger mini-14 .223 in addition to a 12-gauge shotgun.

After his time in Pinehurst, Wuolle was a sheriff's deputy for Shoshone County Sheriff's Department from 1990 to 1996. After a year or so break, he served as the police chief in Smelterville for a year. (The department he helped start eventually was disbanded as the city went back to using the Shoshone County Sheriff's Office.)

Wuolle then came to the Kellogg Police Department in 1999 as a patrol officer. He advanced to assistant chief of police in 2001 and was appointed by the city council to his current position four years later.

Wuolle oversees a staff of six full-time officers, one part-time animal control officer and one reserve deputy.

The department uses a neighborhood policing model that includes officers going into the alleys and stopping by businesses and residential areas, for example.

The police force is fairly stable. Asst. Chief Jason Woody, Sgt. Paul Twidt and Senior Patrol Officer Jeff Thomas have all been there 10 years or more.

The pay has increased over the years too, Wuolle notes. When he started with the department in 1999, he made $12.45 an hour. New hires now start at $16 an hour.

Wuolle, who makes a salary of $51,800 a year, has his officers participate in meth and prescription drug awareness. The department conducted a prescription drug take-back protocol in May. He plans on doing it again in the spring.

It's just one example of the things the department does to help the community.

"I feel I have a great city to live in and work in," Wuolle said.