Pierce City police review reviving old cases, send to county prosecutor for action

A thorough review of past police cases in Pierce City has uncovered evidence and sent several cases to County Prosecutor Darlene Parrigon for action.
Police Chief Steve Norman reported to the city council in Pierce City that all past due reports requested by the State of Missouri, funneled through the Missouri State Highway Patrol, have been completed. This represented a review of cases going back “several years.”
“It took quite a bit of time, talking with the agencies we work with, telling them we are under new command,” said Police Chief Steve Norman. “What you need, we’ll give to you.”
This action had several immediate benefits, he noted. By bringing Pierce City into compliance with reporting requirements, the city can now qualify for grant funding to support the department’s efforts. The effort instituted a new procedure. To complete reports regularly, officers will now turn in all reports by the ninth of the month, if not sooner.
Norman noted the Highway Patrol was “thrilled” to get the unredacted reports. Details from domestic violence cases, driving while intoxicated incidents, and all arrests will now be added to statistics that are forwarded to the FBI.
“We discovered the report writing system has a mechanism to identify any problems,” Norman said. “We spent a lot of time on it. It became our main priority. It’s the right thing to do. I didn’t have to read the tea leaves to know if I wasn’t doing it, we couldn’t get any future grant funding. We’re dependent on that.”
Norman was surprised at the overall volume of the reports. There did not appear to have been a mechanism to have reports reviewed consistently. He noted it’s his job as chief to review reports and work with officers to see them completed properly.
“We brushed the dust off reports and recontacted victims,” Norman continued. “People were surprised to be contacted. We got into the evidence room and looked for stuff. We audited all of it to see if cases were still presentable. We began recharging people. It’s almost like a year-ago incident happened a few days ago. We’re doing the legwork and putting the pieces together.
“If you’re a victim of a crime, it’s up to us to provide a good written report, preserve the evidence, and send it to the prosecutor. People are seeing that I try to lead by example. I’m telling the guys who are working for me what my expectations are. It’s their expectations too.”
Not all the cases could be reconstructed. Norman said the prosecutor’s office “gave us a list of things to work on. We’ve been doing that. Sometimes it is what it is. We’ve rolled up our sleeves on the cases we’ve been given and worked.”
Norman further noted a change over time in how to conduct policing. When he came into law enforcement more than 30 years ago, “We wore this badge of honor that you can’t let anything affect you.” Now he calls that “hogwash.”
“Officers need the ability to decompress if we see a trauma or tragedy,” he said. “It’s hard to show the right empathy when you have a family crying in front of you. You have to have an opportunity to decompress.”
Norman has made an arrangement with the Clark Community Mental Health Center for forensic debriefing, open to both officers and firefighters, where they can “show a little vulnerability and release some trauma.” He noted that within the past month, emergency responders witnessed three deaths in Pierce City: the fatal fire on Oct. 25 on Myrtle Street resulting in two deaths and another at a recent rodeo, where a rodeo participant had a medical incident and died on the grounds.
“We’re human like everyone else,” Norman said. “I wish the leadership I had when I started was like that. It will get to you. There are times your bucket will be full. It’s a tough business we’re in.”
Norman added that in another initiative, Pierce City officers will participate in a DWI campaign on the weekend of Nov. 26, part of a statewide enforcement effort. Additional officers will just the Pierce City law enforcement team in looking at vehicles for inappropriate driving in an effort to keep the public sober.