Average day can bring surprises for Tecumseh Police Department

By DEB WUETHRICH

Those who have scanners may have had a little chuckle a couple of weeks ago when an officer’s voice came across the radio stating to the dispatcher, “We have captured Rocky Raccoon.” Tecumseh Police Department Officers B.J. Horn and Bill Warner responded to a call from a city residence after a woman stated that there was something in her car. Items in her garage had been scattered. En route, when officers inquired as to what might be in the car, Dispatcher Monica Andrews said, “I don’t know, but it’s big and furry.”

Fortunately, the officers were able to capture the wily raccoon with a noose that is typically used to retrieve a stray dog, and since it was healthy, “Rocky” was later released elsewhere unharmed. Just another day on the force.

The Tecumseh Police Department is staffed with 15 individuals, including Chief Mack Haun, Deputy Chief John Clark, and Dispatcher Andrews, and according to Haun, that number hasn’t changed in 35 years.

“We could use a couple more positions,” he said, but at a time when finances are tight everywhere, including Tecumseh, he realizes the additions aren’t likely to take place in the near future. “What we really could use is a detective,” he said. One of the Tecumseh positions is an OMNI officer who is part of a team that covers Lenawee County. Tecumseh City Manager Kevin Welch recently informed city council members that the city was looking into asking other jurisdictions to help share in the cost of the OMNI position.

“It used to be funded by grants that offset our costs, but over the years that eroded and we have had to pay 80 percent of the cost,” said Welch. “We think this position benefits everybody, and OMNI is a great program.” One example of its benefits came through a recent arrest in Lenawee County by the OMNI III Narcotics Team involving a suspect who brought crack cocaine into the county from the Detroit area. “OMNI benefits all of us. We’d just like to see those costs shared,” Welch said.

Tecumseh police officers never know what they might be asked to do when they come to work each day. Like the “Rocky Raccoon” incident, there have been some unusual events, such as finding a boa constrictor in a dumpster behind the Tecumseh Plaza.

“That snake spread 12-15 feet in length down our hallway,” said Andrews. The police called in Critter Man Paul McCormack to help with that one.

“It had somehow slithered out of a house on M-50 and had been gone six weeks,” said John Clark.

Years ago, Officer Doug Martel was bitten by a bat while trying to get it out of an apartment complex and had to undergo rabies vaccinations while the dead animal was sent for testing. The department doesn’t usually respond to the bat calls themselves anymore — they call in help from those better equipped to do so. There have been exceptions, though.
“The chief has taken care of a couple,” said Andrews.

Being a smaller community, Tecumseh is considered by many to be a safe community, and that’s why some residents choose to move here. Haun has a recommendation, however.
“People sometimes think crime doesn’t happen in Tecumseh, and they don’t have to lock their cars or their homes, but you have to help yourself not be a victim of crime,” Haun said, noting that there were several arrests made last summer involving thefts from unlocked cars. “Don’t leave your phone, your wallet, or computer in your unlocked car and lock the doors.”

Although Tecumseh is a small town, it also has a reputation for its traffic enforcement efforts.

“When you aggressively enforce traffic laws and laws that might be considered the smaller stuff within the ordinances, and when you have that OMNI presence within the citizenry, it acts as a deterrent,” said Clark. “The real purpose behind traffic enforcement is to modify behaviors so people are operating vehicles in a safe fashion.” He said the officers also will give warnings where warranted toward that effort of changing behavior.

While Tecumseh has had its share of noteworthy incidents — such as a murder/suicide in the late 90s and the raid of a meth lab a few years ago — Clark said technology has brought on a new wave with more complaints of fraud and such incidents as teens using cell phone cameras inappropriately. He said another contemporary problem is teens getting hold of prescription narcotics from their parents or grandparents.

Dispatcher Andrews’ job also can bring surprises, such as the day she saved the life of a Connecticut woman by routing police to where she had been stabbed, all because of a Vonage-type computer routing issue and her sense that something was wrong. The department also gets calls asking such questions as, “What is the phone number for the post office?” and, during power outages, “Why is my power off and when will it be turned back on?”

Clark said that he believes callers to the department get a more polite response than they might at some larger departments, because Andrews doesn’t say, “That’s not my problem,” and she tries to help.

He also said that by comparison, Tecumseh’s crime rate is lower than those of other municipalities he’s been exposed to.

“That’s a credit to our officers, the patrolmen of this department,” he said.