Terrorism fears are heightened around the world–and now Riley County Police apparently will have a voice on an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force out of Kansas City, with the five members of the County’s Law Enforcement Agency Law Board giving their consensus to proceeding with adding a member to the group. The position is actually a full time one and would be selected from the RCPD ranks, to report back periodically to higher-ups at RCPD.
Riley County Police Director Brad Schoen briefed Board members about adding a person to the group. While RCPD was approached some time ago, now seems to be a good time to take part according to Schoen with N-BAF and the incident involving a bomb threat at Fort Riley this past spring as reasons. Schoen was referring to the arrest of John T. Booker Jr., 21, of Topeka who was arrested in April while trying to arm what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb inside a van near Fort Riley.
The Police Director told the board about the ups and downs of being part of the task force, with the upside being in the loop on situations of concern, but the downside being a person short. But he says it’s worth being a person short and “biting the bullet.”
Board member Craig Beardsley, who also is the Program Administrator for the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center at Kansas State University, spoke in support of joining the group. And while board members seemed supportive, they had questions about more work on the final agreement before signing it.
RCPD Assistant Director John Doehling cautioned it will take possibly up to a year to obtain the top secret clearance required…
Board Chair Robert Boyd indicated he was very supportive but that he would like a more formal process as to where the board fits in before giving final approval. The group though gave RCPD officials the go-ahead to proceed, with hopes to have a more definitive agreement by their next meeting in December.
Parking concerns were brought before the board Monday, from Pat Brodersen with the Holiday Inn At The Campus in Manhattan. Brodersen told the group he sees at least a hundred a day trying to park in his lot rather than the parking garage across the street near the K-State Student Union. And he’s frustrated because wreckers won’t tow unless specified on tickets issued by Riley County Police. Brodersen adds he has some repeat offenders he’s particularly frustrated with.
Director Schoen explained the bottom line is who pays if someone is mistakenly towed but Brodersen seemed willing to take on that responsibility.
Board member Karen McCulloh, who also is Manhattan Mayor, indicated she’d check into city ordinances on the matter–and Board Chair Robert Boyd assured Brodersen they’d take the matter under advisement.
