Frequency of drug stops near school prompts discussion
The frequency of Nebraska State Patrol drug stops near the Giltner I-80 exit during school hours was the focus of discussions during the regular March meeting of the Giltner School Board.
An example of the situation was brought up by board member Logan Rath, who initially brought the issue to Supt. Nick Mumm and board president Ross Lyon.
“I drove by a preschool class out taking a picture with the tractors and 90 seconds later, there’s a state patrolman behind a guy that just got off the interstate,” Rath explained.
Several board members, while agreeing on the importance of the work of the State Patrol, also expressed concerns about drivers taking off towards Giltner and the school due to having something to hide.
Mumm reported that he had discussed the situation with a state trooper who coordinates with the patrols near the exit.
“Some of the things I presented were like, ‘Could you do it at a different exit while school’s in session?’ or ‘If you could do it while school is not in session during the day?’” Mumm shared.
Mumm said the officer had explained that there were certain places the officers like to park their vehicles because it is safer for them.
“He didn’t act like they would change it, but he also said that he would drive around and look things over and I appreciated that,” Mumm said. “He understood the situation.”
Lyon said making changes to practices by the State Patrol would be difficult.
“There’s so much more that’s involved in where they have it and why than just them deciding that it has to be court defensible,” Lyon explained. “It’s got to have certain elements or the lack of certain elements for them to even be able to set the signs up before the court will even hear the cases. This all has been established in case law.”
Lyon did agree with the board about the potential danger from traffic stops near the school.
“If we could control what every bad guy does before they did it, we wouldn’t probably have any crime at all,” Lyon said. “The unfortunate thing is those guys are directing them to come down here. I know I’ve watched troopers literally follow someone with their red lights on all the way from the interstate down to Giltner. Those people are trying to figure out how to get away because they’re guilty of something.”
“When they pull up there, the troopers just can’t stop them for just getting off the interstate,” he shared. “The people have to make a valid traffic violation. If they pull up there and they roll that stop sign or they’ve got expired plates, no plates or something like that, that’s a valid reason for the troopers to stop them. When they signal when they go right or left, because they’re trying to get off the interstate or whatever the case is, then the troopers can jump right on that. Well, if someone pulls up there and goes north or south and they don’t make any kind of violation, it’s apparent to the troopers that they’re trying to evade a set point.”
Lyon explained that state troopers follow vehicles that evade set points until they make a traffic violation or they purposely try to flee.
One situation that Lyon mentioned was the lockdown that occurred at Aurora Public Schools in 2017, during which two people fled by vehicle and then by foot near school grounds.
“They locked down the schools because the guy drove all the way from Giltner to Aurora trying to evade the police,” he said. “Not that he was going fast or anything, they just didn’t have anything on him until they got to Aurora.”
Lyon also said that in the past the policing method had helped not only uncover drugs in vehicles, but has helped in cases of missing children.
“At the very least, if you have inherently voiced your concerns, if there ever becomes a liability issue down the road because they didn’t change any of their practices, that goes a long ways in the court,” Lyon said.
One solution he suggested was for officers to have drivers move their vehicle if they get pulled over near school grounds.
“If someone does stop on the school property, a trooper probably ought to be telling them, ‘We’re going to pull around the corner and we’re going to pull down another mile so we’re not doing this on school property,” he said. “So there’s probably some good solutions there as well.”
Mumm said he plans to meet with the state trooper again to further discuss the issue and find a potential solution.
“I’m calling to set that up, but in the meantime I will ask him to at least be willing to let us know when they’re happening,” Mumm stated. “I don’t necessarily want to keep our kids out of going outside in the springtime to play on the playground just because they’re doing that there.”
Mumm also said he wanted the trooper he talked with to attend an upcoming meeting to talk with the board.
“He was also very interested in coming out to the April or May board meeting and to present all their reasonings and why they do what they do,” he said. “That will be helpful.”
In other action at the March 12 meeting, the board:
* approved the transfer of $10,000 from the general fund to the lunch fund;
* approved transfer of $10,000 from the general fund to activities fund;
* approved a quote from KT Heating and Air;
* acknowledged the success of Giltner’s speech team and the district speech finalists heading to state.