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More felony crimes occurring in Caledonia than any other city in Houston or Fillmore counties
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By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
“People need to wake up and realize bad things can happen and are happening in Caledonia. We currently have 19 criminal sex crimes under investigation here. That’s more than we had in a year when I worked in Austin, which has over 20,000 people,” said Caledonia Police Chief Kurt Zehnder during the Nov. 9 city council meeting.
Zehnder brought a number of topics to the meeting for discussion. They included the recent liquor store robbery, the car burglary spree, the rash of bad checks being written on local businesses and the myriad of false alarms the local police department responds to at local businesses.
More felony investigations
“Our department has more felony investigations going on than any other city in Houston or Fillmore counties,” Zehnder continued. “I really don’t think a lot of people realize how much criminal activity there is here. From 3 to 7 a.m. is a very bad time. I would like to request more part-time hours budgeted for next year so that we can have better coverage. I really feel if we schedule things right and use our part-time staff better, we can make this work without it costing the city more money.”
Liquor store burglary
Zehnder said his investigation of the Oct. 31 liquor store burglary indicated it was “an inside job…all the way.
“There was no forced entry. The store wasn’t ransacked. There was no liquor or anything else stolen. I interviewed the clerk who locked up the night before. I’ve been in this business for 15 years and I can tell if someone is lying to me. He did everything right,” the chief told the council.
Zehnder was referring to a burglary where $2,080 in cash and credit card receipts were taken from the safe at the Caledonia Liquor Store sometime between closing time Friday night Oct. 30 and 9 a.m. Oct. 31.
According to the Caledonia Police Department, liquor store clerk Dusty Gavin said he closed up Friday night and made sure the money bag was in the safe, the safe was locked and all the doors in the building were locked.
A customer stopped at the liquor store Saturday morning, just before 9 a.m. and noticed the front door wasn’t locked. The customer went inside and found no one in the building. A few minutes later the Saturday clerk, Cindy Meyer arrived, found the customer inside and was told the front door had been unlocked.
A check of the building revealed the open safe and the money bag missing.
Zehnder was asked if his officers routinely walk the business districts at night and check doors. He replied that they do, but quickly added “my gut feeling is this happened sometime between three and five that morning.
“Had this been a break-in, we would have found a door or window damaged. There wasn’t any damage. And had this been a break-in the place would have been trashed by the burglars searching for the safe combination,” Zehnder continued. “The file drawer where the combination was kept was closed with the piece of paper the combination was written on inside. The drawer was closed. Criminals don’t leave stuff that way.”
Zehnder recommended the city purchase a new, more high-tech safe. Discussion ensued as to why that much money was left on the premises. It was explained that clerks working at the liquor store weren’t comfortable carrying several thousand dollars in cash to the bank deposit at night.
Zehnder suggested an officer give the clerk a ride to the bank to deposit the money. “If you want an officer there to help remedy this issue, I’ll have someone there every night.”
The council agreed that would be the best way to resolve the situation. Zehnder said he would implement the new procedure immediately.
Interim Clerk/Administrator Mike Gerardy said the locks at the liquor store have been re-keyed and a new type of key that can’t be duplicated by anyone will be used. A sign-out sheet will be used to keep track of the keys. The city will also look into the costs of installing a security camera system or a silent alarm.
Bad check issues
“We’re getting slammed-dunked with NSF checks,” Zehnder told the council. He requested changing the NSF check policy at the police department. Currently when the police department collects a NSF check for a business in Caledonia the police department receives $20 as a service fee. He felt with all the running his officers have to do to track down the persons responsible the city is losing money. He recommended the charge be increased from $20 to $40.
Mayor Bob Burns asked Zehnder how much other cities are charging for this service. Zehnder said he wasn’t sure, but would check into it and get back to the council.
False alarm issue
Zehnder asked the council to enact a policy where a business would get charged a $30 fee if police officers were called to a false alarm more than two times in a month. He said there are a few businesses in town that have alarms going off a half dozen or more times per month.
He felt the fee might encourage business owners to adjust their alarms so slight movements, such as papers moving from heating or ventilating systems, or even large insects wouldn’t set them off. He added the fee might encourage business owners and managers to better train their help as far as turning the systems on at closing time and turning them off when they open.
The council felt letters should be sent out to all of the businesses letting them know a $30 fee would go into effect Jan. 1, 2010.
A motion was made by Councilman Bob Lemke and seconded by Councilwoman Peggy Perry to move forward with this. It was voted down 3-2 with Burns, Councilman Tom Murphy and Councilwoman Randi Vick voting against it.
Letters will be sent out to all businesses informing them of the possible fee.
FEMA training course
Zehnder requested authorization to attend a FEMA training course in Anniston, Ala. from Jan. 24 to Jan. 28, 2010. There would be no cost to the city, except for Zehnder’s wages while he is gone.
Murphy asked if this was something that was really necessary. Zehnder replied that he felt it was. Gerardy pointed out if some type of natural disaster hit Caledonia, and they didn’t have someone with the proper training, the city would not be eligible for FEMA funds.
When Zehnder was asked why the training was held in Alabama, he replied that is were FEMA’s main training headquarters is located. Zehnder also pointed out the training would go towards the 48 hours of continued education training he is required to have every three years.
It was pointed out that County Sheriff Doug Ely was also going to attend the training seminar.
“If Doug takes the training and something happens in Caledonia, wouldn’t he be able to take command,” Burns asked?
Gerardy said he checked into the requirements, and in order for the city to qualify for FEMA recovery funds, they need to have someone from the city be certified.
A motion by Burns and seconded by Lemke to approve Zehnder’s request was unanimously approved.
You can contact Charlie Warner at
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