Check in with Chief Dan Birbeck - Friday Briefing

The cold weather kept “the bad guys” from too many shenanigans for the past two weeks, giving the Olney Police Department time to serve multiple warrants and make three drug cases, OPD Chief Dan Birbeck said in his recent Friday briefings.

Chief Birbeck also reviewed police procedure for responding to domestic violence calls, the statutory requirements for filing for candidacy for the upcoming City Council elections, and how to help police locate suspects after you call for help.

“The lesson of the briefing today is what you can expect if we respond to your house on a domestic violence call,” he said at the Jan. 12 briefing.

Domestic violence calls are among the most dangerous for police officers, he said. Officers “are already going to be on guard and they are going to be very firm in the way they ask you to respond. They are going to be pretty adamant that you follow their directions.”

Meaning, do not resist, he said. “They are going to gain control of that situation and they are going to do it …. physically … because the primary duty of a police officer who responds to a domestic violence call is to protect the victims.”

Texas domestic violence law pertains to people who are married or dating, he said. The law also mandates that if there is an injury in a family violence situation “there will be an arrest.” The law allows the officer to determine who is the primary aggressor, he said. “A lot of times it may mean the person who has the injury.”

The officer will stop any further violence, including ordering the parties to separate “where one party takes some belongings and leaves.”

“Take a break and cool off,” he said. “You could be the one who ends up in handcuffs going to the county jail.”

The most serious calls involve those in which the victim has been strangled or had their airway cut off, he said. “That is an automatic felony charge,” he said. “Strangulation is serious. That is a deadly force encounter.”

Arrestees who bail out of the County Jail on bond conditions will be forbidden by court order from returning to their homes until the case is resolved, he said. “Even getting your personal items is a violation of your bond conditions. You are prohibited from making any kind of contact even through a third party to get your stuff,” he said.

He urged couples who have “issues … to find a positive way to express yourself.”

“Hitting somebody that you say you love is not love,” he said. “You need to make different decisions and go on with your life.”

Officer Clayton Moore began his tenure at OPD with two narcotics arrests that resulted in two felony and three misdemeanor charges, he said.

“Officer Moore is going to be on it out there so I would not recommend moving around with any type of illicit substance on you because you might end up in the Young County Jail,” he said. “We are not going to tolerate narcotics in Olney, Texas. If you are selling it and I can make a distribution charge, your car will belong to the City of Olney. If you are selling drugs out of your house, the City of Olney will seize it.”

Code enforcement will begin tearing down condemned houses starting on the week of Jan. 29 with the help of the Public Works Department and Waste Connections, he said.

He also reminded citizens that the filing period has opened for positions on the Olney City Council, Olney Hamilton Hospital Board of Directors and the Olney Independent School District Board of Trustees.

People who live in the City limits can pick up candidate packets to run for mayor or the two open City Council positions at City Hall until Friday, Feb. 16 at 5 p.m. To determine whether you are eligible for candidacy, check the Texas Election Code, Title 9, Candidates.

When calling the OPD about suspicious people, concentrate on giving the dispatcher a description of the person – physical attributes such as height, weight, ethnicity, coloring, clothing, and anything that stands out, he said.

When calling in suspicious vehicles, police will need the make, model, color and license plate if it is possible to see it. Noting the last known direction of travel is helpful, he said.

He also warned callers “not to chase a car that is being aggressive with you.”

“Let them get on down the road and you keep yourself and your family safe,” he said.

OPD responded to several grass fires along State Highway 114 about 2.5 miles west of town on Jan. 19, he said. “We are not sure what caused it but it has been very dry and something may have been dragging and sending sparks into the grass,” he said. He urged drivers who have trailer hitches with chains to make sure they are not dragging on the roadway.